


.^■-r. 










'/' ,> 






-> *^ 


-> 


,0^^ 




■Ni' 




fO' 


^ 




L> 


'^ i- 





^ vvV 



x>^^^ 





■^^ v^ 




,0o^ 


/J 






"?r;^ 



'^. 



::tt^1^. 









,-0^ 





- 


■^^^< 


- - ,. =» 


.^- 


b<- 


•V 






.c^<^ 






V' ,^;; 



^.,'^- 



'^»f ^ ,.^' 



'-''<f%^^.- 







* .,S^ 






■-^' 






'^^ .-^^ 



Oo. 



O)^ ^ V * 



■^ 






.#• 



«^ 









v.^ .„/y?^^^ 






,0 o 






Y-- 



.f: 






v'^^ 



^V"^:^^ 






.- . % 



^ ^^. 







»' ^0^ :i 


,0 o^ - ^- 






,0^ ^O ^ 








# 








sX^' '^r 












,*''" .^ 



V"- 



^ 



%. •"''\>'* 










0^ ,<■ 



<* 
-« ^"^p^ 



-n \ \ -■ 















'-^^^ 




.H -71, 












O . . * A 



'■%■ 



"'^'"^^^ 



9 I ^ . \ ' 



viS' ^ 



s^- 



. ^^ 



.-1 -7*. * ■- 



A\^' ^^ 



<>*, ^ 



^0,.^ ^A 






.x^^^' 






, • ( 



>,°°^ 



'%'?' 



^ .\ 



Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/practicalenquiryOOgall 



PRACTICAL ENQUIRY 



THE PHILOSOPHY 



OF 



EDUCATION. 



H 



PRACTICAL ENQUIRY 



THE PHILOSOPHY 



EDUCATION. 



BY JAMES GAL L. 

u 

INVENTOR OF THE TRIANGULAR ALPHABET Foa THE BLIND 
AUTHOR OF THE " END AND ESSENCE OF SABBATH 
SCHOOL TEACHING," &C. 



*' The Works of tJie Lord are great, souyJit out of all them that have 
pleasure tlwrein.''''- — Psal. cxi. 2. 






V 
EDINBURGH : 

JAMES GALL & SON, 

24, NIDDRV STREET. 

LONDON : HOULSTON & STONEMAN, 65, PATEllN OSTER- RO W 

GLASGOW : GEORGE GALLIE. BELFAST : WILLIAM M-CO.MB- 



MDCCCXL. 



hl> 






Printed by J. Gall & Son. 22, Niddry Street. 



PREFACE. 



The Author of the following pages is a plain man? 
who has endeavoured to write a plain book, for the 
purpose of being popularly useful. The philosophi- 
cal form which his enquiries have assumed, is the 
result rather of accidental circumstances than of free 
choice. The strong desire which he felt in his ear- 
lier years to benefit the Young, induced him to push 
forward in the paths which appeared to him most 
likely to lead to his object ; and it was not till he 
had advanced far into the fields of philosophy, that 
he first began dimly to perceive the importance of 
the ground which he had unwittingly occupieda 
The truth is, that he had laboured many years in 
the Sabbath Schools with which he had connected 
himself, before he was aware that? in his combat 
with ignorance? he was wielding weapons that were 
comparatively new ; and it was still longer, before 
he very clearly understood the principles of those 
Exercises which he found so successful. One investi- 
gation led to another; light shone out as he pro* 



VI PREFACE. 

ceeded ; and he now submits, with full confidence in 
the truth of his general principles and deductions, 
the results of more than thirty years' experience and 
reflection in the great cause of Education. 

He has only further to observe, that the term *' Na- 
ture," which occurs so frequently, has been adqpted 
as a convenient and popular mode of expression. None 
of his readers needs to be informed, that this is but 
another manner of designating " The God of Na- 
ture,'' whose laws, as established in the young 
mind, he has been endeavouring humbly, and per- 
severingly to imitate. 



Myrtle Barik^ Trinity^ Edinburgh^ 
8th May, 1840. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR THE 
ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCA- 
TION. 

> 
CHAP. I. 

Page 
On the Importance of establishing the Science of Education 

on a solid Foundation, . . . .IS 

CHAP. II. 

On the Cultivation of Education as a Science, . . 16 

CHAP. III. 

On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art, . . 25 

CHAP. IV. 

On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education, . 32 



Vm CONTENTS. 

PART II. 

ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE's TEACHING, 
AND THE METHODS SHE EMPLOYS IN CARRYING 
IT ON. 

CHAP. I. 

Page 
A Comprehensive View of the several Kducational Processes 

carried on by Nature, . . . .37 

CHAP. II. 

On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the 

Powers of the Mind, . . . . .45 

CHAP. III. 

On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire 

Knowledge, ...... 52 

CHAP. IV. 

On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the 

Young by the Principle of Reiteration, . . 56 

CHAP. V. 

On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Indivi- 
duation, . . . . , . €5 

CHAP. VI. 

On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Asso- 
ciation, or Grouping, . . . .72 



CONTENTS. IX 



CHAP. VII. 

Page 



On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Ana- 
lysis, or Classification, .... 83 



CHAP. VIII. 



On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of 

their Knowledge, . . . . , 95 



CHAP. IX. 

On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Prin- 
ciple of the Animal, or Common Sense, . . 101 



CHAP. X. 

On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge, by means of 

the Moral Sense, or Conscience, . . . Ill 



CHAP. XI. 

On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate 

their Knowledge, . . . . .129 



CHAP. XII. 

Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed in 

the previous Chapters, . « , .141 



CONTENTS. 

PART III. 

ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAI. 
PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE SUCCESSFULLY 
IMITATED. 



CHAP. I. 



Page 



On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cul- 
tivating the Powers of the Mind, , . , 148 

CHAP. II. 

On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the 
Pupil's Acquisition of Knowledge ; with a Review of 
the Analogy between the Mental and Physical Appetites 
of the Young, , , , , , 170 

CHAP. III. 

How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge 

to the Pupil, by the Reiteration of Ideas, . . 177 

CHAP. IV. 

On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising 

the Principle of Individuation, . . .192 

CHAP. V. 

On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying 

the Principle of Grouping, or Association, . . 204 

CHAP. Vf. 

On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in Com- 
municating Knowledge by Classifi,cati(m, or Analysis, 318 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAP. VII. 

Pa£re 
On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use 

of Knowledge, ..... 233 

CHAP. VIII. 

On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge 

by Means of the Animal, or Common Sense, . . 245 

CHAP. IX. 

On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of 

Knowledge by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience, 257 

CHAP. X. 

On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs 

of Life, .*.... 274 

CHAP. XI. 

On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently 

to communicate their Knowledge, . . . 288 



PART IV. 

ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUB- 
JECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS AND FA- 
MILIES. 

CHAP. I. 

On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice 

of Truths and Subjects to be taught to the Young, . 306i 



Xll CONTENTS. 

CHAP II. 

Page 

On the particular Branches of Education required for Ele- 
mentary Schools, . . . . .317 

CHAP. III. 

On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for 

the first time^ into Schools already established, . 326 

Notes, . . • ... 331 



PRACTICAL ENQUIRY, &c 



PART I. 

ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR 

THE ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENT 

OF EDUCATION. 



CHAP. I. 

On the Importance of establishing the Science of 
Education on a solid Foundation. 

Education is at present obviously in a transition state. 
The public mind has of late become alive to the im- 
portance of the subject ; and all persons are beginning 
to feel awake to the truth, that something is yet want- 
ing to insure efficiency and permanence to the labours 
of the teacher. The public will not be satisfied till 
some decided change has taken place ; and many are 
endeavouring to grope their way to something better. 
It is with an earnest desire to help forward this great 
movement, that the writer of the following pages has 
been induced to publish the result of much study, and 
upwards of thirty years' experience, in the hope that 
it may afford at least some assistance in directing the 
enquiries of those who are prosecuting the same 
object. 

On entering upon this investigation, it will be of 
use to keep in mind, that all the sciences have, at par- 
ticular periods of their history, been in the same un- 
certain and unsettled position, as that which Edu- 
cation at present occupies ; and that each of them 
has in its turn, had to pass through an ordeal, similar 
to that which education is about to undergo. They 



14 PRACTICAL ENauiRY INTO 

have triumphantly succeeded ; and their subsequent 
rapid advancement is the best proof that they are now 
placed on a solid and permanent foundation. It is 
of importance, therefore, in attempting to forward 
the science of education, that we should profit by the 
experience of those who have gone before us. They 
succeeded by a strict observation of facts, and a stern 
rejection of every species of mere supposition and 
opinion; — by an uncompromising hostihty to preju- 
dice and selfishness, and a fearless admission of 
truth wherever it was discovered. Such must be the 
conduct of the Educationist, if he expects to succeed 
in an equal degree. The history of astronomy as 
taught by astrologers, and of chemistry in the hands 
of the alchymist, should teach both the lovers and 
the fearers of change an important lesson. These 
pretended sciences being mere conjectures, were of use 
to nobody ; and yet the boldness with which they were 
promulgated, and the confidence with which they 
were received, had the effect of suppressing enquiry, 
and shutting out the truth for several generations. 
Similar may be the effects of errors in education, and 
similar the danger of too easily admitting them. The 
adoption of plausible theories, or of erroneous princi- 
ples, must lead into innumerable difficulties ; and 
should they be hastily patronized, and authorita- 
tively promulgated, the improvement of this first 
and most important of the sciences may be retarded 
for a century to come. 

The other sciences, during the last half century, 
have advanced with amazing rapidity. This has been 
the result of a strict adherence to well established 
facts, and their legitimate inferences. — A docile sub- 
jection of the mind to the results of experiment, and 
a candid confession and abandonment of fallacies, 
have characterized every benefactor of the sciences ; — 
and the science of education must be advanced by an 
adherence to the same principles. The Educationist 
must be willing to abandon error, as well as to receive 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 15 

truth ; and must resolutely shake off all conjecture 
and opinions not founded on fair and appropriate ex- 
periment. This course may appear tedious ;• — but it 
is the shortest and the best. By this mode of indue- 
tion, all the facts which he is able to glean will as- 
suredly be found to harmonize with nature, with 
reason, and with Scripture ; and with these for his 
supporters, the Reformer in education has nothing to 
fear. His progress may be slow, but it will be sure ; 
for every principle which he thus discovers, will ena- 
ble him, not only to outrun his neighbours, but to 
confer a permanent and valuable boon upon posterity* 
That any rational and accountable being should 
ever have been found to oppose the progress of truth, 
is truly humiliating ; yet every page of history, which 
records the developement of new principles, exhibits 
also the outbreakings of prejudice and selfishness. 
The deductions of Galileo, of Newton, of Harvey, 
and innumerable others, have been opposed and de- 
nounced, each in its turn; while their promiOters have 
been vilified as empyrics or innovators. Nor has 
this been done by those only whose self-love or world - 
ly interests prompted them to exclude the truth, but 
by good and honourable men, whose prejudices were 
strong, and whose zeal was not guided by discretion. 
Such persons have frequently been found to shut 
their eyes against the plainest truths, to wrestle with 
their own convictions, and positively refuse even to 
listen to evidence. The same thing may happen 
with regard to education ; — and this is no pleasing 
prospect to the lover of peace, who sets himself for- 
ward as a reformer in this noble work. — Change is 
inevitable. Teaching is an art; and it must, like all 
the other arts, depend for its improvement upon the in- 
vestigations of science. Now, every one knows, that 
although the cultivation of chemistry, and other bran- 
ches of natural science, has, of late years, given an 
extraordinary stimulus to the arts, yet the science of 
education, from which the art of teaching can alone de- 



W PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

rive its power, is one, beyond the threshold of whiclb 
modern philosophy has scarcely entered. Changes, 
therefore, both in the theory and practice of teaching, 
may be anticipated; — and that these changes will be 
inconvenient and annoying to many, there can be no 
doubt. That individuals, in these circumstances? 
should be inclined to deprecate and oppose these in- 
novations and improvements, is nothing more than 
might be expected ; but that the improvements 
themselves should on that account be either postpon- 
ed or abandoned, would be highly injurious. An 
enlightened system of education is peculiarly the 
property of the public, on which both personal, family^ 
and national happiness in a great measure depends. 
These interests therefore must not be sacrificed to 
the wishes or the convenience of private individuals. 
The prosperity and happiness of mankind are at 
stake ; and the welfare of succeeding generations will, 
in no small degree, be influenced by the establishment 
of sound principles in education at the present time. 
Nothing, therefore, should be allowed to mystify or 
cripple that science, upon which the spread and the 
permanence of all useful knowledge mainly rest. 



CHAP. 11. 

O71 the Cultivation of Education as a Science. 

From numerous considerations, it must be evident,, 
that education claims the first rank among the sciences; 
and, in that case, the art of Teaching ought to take 
precedence among the arts ; — not perhaps in respect 
of its difficulties, but most certainly in respect of its 
importance. 

The success of the teacher in his labours, will depend 
almost entirely on the extent and the accuracy of the 
investigations of the philosopher. The science must 
guide the art. Experience shews, that where an. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. IJ 

artist in ordinary life is not directed by science, — by 
acknowledged principles, — he can never make any 
steady improvement. In like manner, when the 
principles of education are unknown, no advancement 
in the art can be expected from the teacher. Every 
attempt at change in such circumstances must be unsa- 
tisfactory ; and even when improvements are by chance 
accomplished, they are but partial, and must be sta- 
tionary. — When, on the contrary, the teacher is di- 
rected by ascertained principles, he never can deviate 
far from the path of success ; and even if he should, 
he has the means in Piis own power of ascertaining 
the cause of his failure, and of retracing his steps. 
He can, therefore, at his pleasure, add to or abridge, 
vary or transpose his exercises with his pupils, pro- 
vided only that the great principles of the science be 
kept steadily in view, and be neither outraged, nor 
greatly infringed. No teacher, therefore, should 
profess the art, without making himself familiar with 
the philosophical principles upon which it is founded. 
In the mechanical arts, this practice is now generally 
followed, and with the happiest effects. The men 
of the present generation have profited by the pain- 
ful experience of thousands in former times ; who, 
trusting to mere conjectures, tried, failed, and ruined 
themselves. The mechanics of our day, instead of 
indulging in blind theories of their own, and hazard- 
ing their money and their time upon speculation and 
chance, are willing to borrow light for their guidance 
from those who have provided it. They slowly, but 
surely, follow in the path opened up to them by the 
discoveries of science, — and they are never disap- 
pointed. 

The unexampled success of the mechanical arts, 
would, upon the above principles, naturally lead us 
to conclude, that the sciences, from which they have 
derived all that they possess, must have been culti- 
vated with corresponding energy. And such is the 
fact. Since the adoption of the inductive method of 
B 3 



18 PRACTICAL ENQUIllY TNTO 

philosophizing, nearly all the sciences have been ad- 
vancing rapidly and steadily ; and the cause of this 
is to be found in adhering to the rules of induction. 
No science has been allowed to rest its claims upon 
mere theory, or authority of any kind, but upon evi- 
dence derived from facts. Mere opinions and suppo- 
sitions have been rigidly excluded ; and that alone 
vi^hich was acquired by accurate investigation, has 
been acknowledged in science as having the stamp of 
truth. The inductive philosophy takes nothing for 
granted. Every conclusion must be legitimately 
drawn from ascertained facts, or from principles esta- 
blished by experiment ; and the consequence has 
been, not only that what has been attained is per- 
manent, and will benefit all future generations, but 
the amount of that attainment, in the short time that 
has already elapsed, is actually greater than all that 
had been previously gained during centuries. In this 
general improvement, however, the science of Educa- 
tion has till lately formed an exception. The princi- 
ples of true philosophy do not appear to have been 
brought to bear upon it, as they have upon the other 
sciences; and the consequences of this neglect have been 
lamentable. In every branch of natural philosophy, 
there are great leading principles already established. 
But where were there any such principles established 
by the philosopher for the guidance of the teacher ? 
By what, except their own experience, and conjec- 
tures, were teachers directed in the training of the 
young ? — Thirty or forty years ago, what was called 
" education" in our ordinary week-day schools, was lit- 
tle more than a mechanical round of barren exercises. 
The excitement of religious persecution, which had 
been the means of disciplining the intellectual and 
moral powers of Scotsmen for several previous gene- 
rations, had by that time gradually subsided, and 
had left education to do its own work, by the use of 
its own resources. But these were perfectly inade- 
quate to the task. The exercises almost universally 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 19 

employed in the education of the young, had neither 
been derived from science, nor from experience of 
their own inherent power; and they would, from the 
beginning? have been found perfectly inefficient, had 
they not been aided, as before noticed, by the stimu- 
lant of religious persecution. — The state of educa- 
tion, at the time we speak of, is still fresh on the 
memory of living witnesses wdio were its victims ; 
and some of the absurdities which were then univer- 
sal, are not even yet altogether extinct. 

Soon after the period above stated, an important 
change began to take place in the art of teaching, — but 
still unaided and undirected by science. Some of the 
more thinking and judicious of its professors, roused 
by the flagrant failures of their own practice, made 
several noble and exemplary efforts to place it on a 
better footing. Had these efforts been guided by 
scientific research, much more good would have been 
done than has been accomplished, and an immense 
amount of misdirected labour would have been sav- 
ed. But although many of the attempts at a change 
failed, yet some of them succeeded, and have gra- 
dually produced ameliorations and improvements in 
the art of teaching. Still it must be observed, 
that philosophy has had little or no share in the me- 
rit. Her labours in this important field have yet to 
be begun. Valuable exercises have no doubt been 
introduced ; but the principles upon which the suc- 
cess of these exercises depends, remain in a great 
measure concealed from the public generally : — And 
the reason of this is, that the public have been in- 
debted for them to the art of the teacher, and not 
to the science of the philosopher. 

That this is not the position in which matters of 
so much public importance should continue, we think 
no one will deny. Education must be cultivated as 
a science, before teaching can ever flourish as an 
art. The philosopher must first ascertain and light 
up the way, before the teacher can, with security^ 



20 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY IXTO 

walk in it. Experiment must he employed to ascer- 
tain facts, investigate causes, and trace these causes 
to their effects. By fair and legitimate deductions 
drawn from the facts thus ascertained, he will be 
enabled to establish certain principles, which, when 
acted upon by the teacher, will invariably succeed. 
But without this, the history of all the other arts 
and sciences teaches us? that success is not to be ex- 
pected ; — for although chance may sometimes lead 
the teacher to a happy device, there can be no steady 
progress. Even those beneficial exercises upon which 
he may have stumbled, become of little practical va- 
lue; because, when the principles upon which they 
are based are unknown, they can neither be followed 
up with certainty, nor be varied without danger. 

There will no doubt be a difficulty in the investi- 
gation of a science which is in itself so complicated, 
and which has hitherto been so little understood ; 
but this is only an additional reason wh}^ it should 
be begun in a proper manner, and pursued with 
energy. The mode of procedure is the chief object 
of difficulty ; but the experience and success of in- 
vestigators in the other sciences, will be of great ad- 
vantage in directing us in this. In the sciences of ana- 
tomy and physiology, for example, the investigations of 
the philosopher are designed to direct the several opera- 
tions of the physician, the surgeon, and the dentist ; 
in the same way as the investigations of the Educa- 
tionist are intended to direct the operations of the 
Teacher. Now the mode of procedure in those 
sciences for such purposes is well known, and forms 
an excellent example for us in the present case. The 
duty of the anatomist, or physiologist, is simply 
to examine the operations of Nature in the animal 
economy, and the plans which she adopts for accom- 
plishing her objects during health, and for throv/ing 
off impediments during disease. In conducting his 
investigations, the enquirer begins by taking a ge- 
neral view of the whole subject, and then separating 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 21 

and defining its leading parts. Pulsation, respira- 
tion, digestion, and the various secretions and excre- 
tions of the body, are defined, and their general con- 
nection with each other correctly ascertained. These 
form his starting points ; and then, taking each in 
its turn, he sets himself to discover the principles^ 
or laws, which regulate its working in a healthy 
state ; — what it is that promotes the circulation or 
stagnation of the blood, the bracing or relaxing of 
the nerves, the several processes in digestion, and the 
various functions of the skin and viscera. These 
are all first ascertained by observation and experience, 
and then, if necessary, establislied by experiment. 

These principles^ having thus been established by 
science, are available for direction in the arts. The 
physician acts under their guidance ; and his object 
is simply to regulate his treatment and advice in ac- 
cordance with them. In other v/ords, he endeavours 
to imitate Nature^ to remove the obstructions which 
he finds interfering with her operations, or to lend 
that aid which a knowledge of these principles points 
out as necessary. The surgeon and the dentist fol- 
low the same course, but more directly. In healing 
a wound, for example, the surgeon has to ascertain 
from science how Nature in similar cases proceeds 
when left to herself; and all his cuttings, and lan- 
cings, and dressings, are nothing more than attempts 
to imitate lier in her healing operations. So well is 
this now understood, that every operation which does 
not at least recognise the principle is denounced — and 
justly denounced — as quackery; and the reason is> 
that uniform experience has convinced professional 
men, that they can only expect success when they 
follow with docility in the path which Nature has 
pointed out to them. 

Precisely similar should be the plan of operation 
pursued by the Educationist. He should, in the first 
place, take a comprehensive view of the whole sub- 
ject, and endeavour to map out to himself its great 



22 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

natural divisions ; — in other words, he should endea- 
vour to ascertain what are the things which Nature 
teaches, that he may, by means of this great outline, 
form a general programme for the direction of the 
teacher. His next object ought to be, to ascertain 
the mode, and the means, adopted by Nature in for- 
warding these several departments of her educational 
process ; the powers of mind engrossed in each ; the , 
order in which they are brought into exercise ; and 
the combinations which she employs in perfecting 
them. In ascertaining these principles which regulate 
the operations of Nature in her educational processes, 
the same adherence to the rules prescribed by the in- 
ductivephilosophy, which hascrownedtheother sciences 
with success, must be rigidly observed. There must 
be the same disregard of mere antiquity ; there must 
be the same scrupulous sifting of evidence, and strict 
adherence to facts ; there must be a discarding of all 
hypotheses, and a simple dependence upon ascertained 
truths alone. Adherence to these rules is as neces- 
sary in cultivating the science of education, as it has 
been in the other sciences ; and the neglect of any 
one of them, may introduce an element of error, 
which may injure the labours of a whole lifetime. 

We have some reason to fear, that although all 
this will be readily admitted in theory, it will be 
found somewhat difficult to adopt it in practice. 
The reason of this will be obvious when we reflect 
on the deep interest which the best and most philan- 
thropic individuals in society take in this science. 
The other sciences are in some measure removed 
from the busy pursuits of life ; they are the concern 
of certain persons, who are allowed to investigate and 
to experiment, to judge and to decide as they please, 
without the public in general caring much about the 
matter. — But education is a science of a different 
kind. Its value is acknowledged by every one, and 
its interests are dear to every benevolent heart. The 
individual who undertakes to examine, and more 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 23 

especially to promulgate, any new principle upon 
which education rests, will have a harder task to per- 
form, and a severer battle to fight, than the philoso- 
pher who attempts to overturn a false conclusion in 
chemistry, or an erroneous principle in mechanics. 
Among the learned community., not more than one 
in a thousand perhaps is personally interested either 
in mechanics or in chemistry ; and few others will 
enter the lists to oppose that which appears legiti- 
mate and fair. The enemies and opponents of the 
chemical reformer in that case may be zealous and 
even fierce; but they are few, and he enjoys the 
sympathy and the countenance of the great majority 
of those whose countenance is worthy of his regard. 
But when we calculate the number of those who take 
an interest in the subject of education, and those who 
do notj the above numbers will be reversed. Nine 
hundred and ninety-nine among the educated public 
will be found who take a real interest in the progress 
of education, for one who cares nothing about it. 

This is a fearful odds where there is a likelihood 
of opposition ; — and opposition may be expected. 
For there will be influences in many of the true 
friends of education, derived from old prejudices 
within, combined with the pressure of conflicting sen- 
timents in their friends from without, which will 
render the task of establishing new and sound princi- 
ples in this first of the sciences an irksome, and even a 
hazardous employment. Coldness or opposition from 
those whom we honour and love is always painful ; 
and yet it should be endured, rather than that the 
best interests both of the present and future genera- 
tions should be sacrificed. The opinions of all good 
men deserve consideration ; — but when they are mere- 
ly opinions, and are not founded on reason, they are 
at best but specious ; and when they are opposed to 
truth, and are contrary to experience, a zealous adher- 
ence to them becomes sinful and dangerous. Such 
persons ought to commend, rather than blame, the re- 



24 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

former in education, when he decHnes to adopt ancient 
dogmas which he finds to be useless and hurtful : 
And at all events, if all have agreed to disregard the 
authority of an Aristotle or a Newton, when opposed 
to new facts and additional evidence, the Educationist 
must not allow himself to be driven from the path of 
fact and experience by either friends or enemies. No 
authority can make darkness light ; — and although he 
may be opposed for a time, and the public mind may 
be abused for a moment, it will at last correct itself, 
and truth will prevail. 

But the fiiends of education ought in no case to 
put the perseverance of those who labour for its im- 
provement to so severe a trial. They ought injus- 
tice, as well as charity, to cultivate a forbearing and 
a candid spirit ; and they will have many opportu- 
nities of exercising these virtues during the progress 
of this science. Education is confessedly but in its 
infancy ; and therefore it must grow much, and change 
much, before it can arrive at maturity. But if there 
be an increasing opposition to all advance, and if a 
stumbling-block be continually thrown in the way of 
those who labour to perfect it, the labourers may be 
discouraged, and the work be indefinitely postponed. 
Let all such then guard against a blind opposi- 
tion, or an attempt to explain away palpable facts, 
merely because they lead to principles which are 
new, or to conclusions which are at variance with 
their pre-conceived opinions. If they persevere in a 
blind opposition, they may find at last that they have 
been resisting truth, and defrauding their neighbour. 
Truth can never be the enemy of man, although 
many inadvertently rank themselves among its oppo- 
nents. The resistance which has invariably been 
offered to every important discovery hitherto, should 
be a beacon to warn the inconsiderate and the preju- 
diced against being over-hasty in rejecting discoveries 
in education ; and the obloquy that now rests on 
the memory of such persons, should be a warning to 



i:he philosophy of education. 25 

them, not to plant thorns in their own pillows, or 
now to sow " the wind, lest they at last should reap 
the whirlwind." 



CHAP. III. 
On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art. 

As Education on account of its importance takes 
precedence in the sciences, so Teaching should rank 
first among the arts. The reasons for this arrange- 
ment are numerous ; but the consideration of two 
will be sufficient. — The first is, that all the other arts 
refer chiefly to time, and the conveniences and com- 
forts of this world ; while the art of teaching not only 
includes all these, but involves also many of the in- 
terests of man through eternity. — And the second is, 
that without this art all the other arts would produce 
scarcely any advantage. Without education of some 
kind, men are, and must continue to be savages, — it 
being the only effectual instrument of civilization. 
It is the chief, if not the only means for improving 
the condition of the human family, and for restor*- 
ing man to the dignity of an intelligent and virtuous 
being. 

As " Science'* is the investigation and knowledge of 
principles, so an " art" may be defined as a system of 
means, in accordance with these principles, for attain- 
ing some special end. Teaching is one of the arts ; 
and it depends as entirely for its success upon a right 
application of the principles of the science of educa- 
tion, as the art of dying does upon the principles of 
chemistry. As an art, therefore, teaching must be 
subjected to all those laws which regulate the im- 
provement of the other arts, and without which it 
can never be successfully carried on, far less perfected. 
These laws are now very generally understood ; and 
we shall briefly advert to a few of them, which are 

c 



26 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY I^JTO 

necessary for our present purpose, and endeavour to 
point out their relation to the art of teaching. 

1 . One of the first rules connected with the improve- 
ment of the arts is, that the artist have a specific 
object in view, for the attainment of which all his 
successive operations are to be combined. — The manu- 
facturer has his cloth in prospect, before he has even 
purchased the wool of which it is to be composed ; 
and it is the desire of procuring cloth of the most 
suitable quality, and by the easiest means, that com- 
pels him to draw liberally and constantly from the 
facts ascertained, and the principles developed, by the 
several sciences. From the science of mechanics he 
derives the various kinds of machinery used in the 
progressive stages of its production ; and from the 
science of chemistry he obtains the processes of dy- 
ing, and printing, and dressing. But he never trou- 
bles himself about the science of mechanics or of 
chemistry in the abstract ; he thinks only of his cloth, 
and of these sciences as means to assist him in pro- 
curing it. He is careful of his machinery, and is 
constantly alive to the mode of its working, and is 
thus prompted to adopt such improvements as obser- 
vation or experience may suggest ; but it is not the 
machinery of itself that he either cares for, or thinks 
about. No ; it is still the cloth that he keeps in view ; 
and his machinery is esteemed or slighted, adopted 
or abandoned, exactly in proportion as it forwards 
his object. The processes necessary in the different 
departments of his establishment, are complicated and 
various, and to a stranger they are both curious and 
instructive ; but it is neither the labour nor the va- 
riety that he is seeking. His is a very different 
object ; and ©f this object he never loses sight ; for 
the varied operations of stapling and carding, of 
spinning and weaving, are nothing more than means 
which he employs for accomplishing his end. He 
knows the uses of the whole complicated operations ; 
and he sees at a glance, and can tell in a moment. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 2? 

how each in its turn contributes to the great object of 
all, — the production of a good and marketable cloth. 

Now this law ought to be applied with the utmost 
strictness to the art of teaching. For if teaching be 
really an art, — that is, a successive combination of 
means, — it should undoubtedly be a combination of 
means to some specific end. Nothing can be more 
obvious, than that a man who sits down to work, 
should know what he intends to do, and how he is 
to do it. Such a line of conduct should be impera- 
tively demanded of the teacher, both on account of 
the importance of his work, and of the immense value 
of the material upon which he is to operate. The 
end he has in view, whatever that end may be, ought 
to be correctly defined before he begins ; and no 
exercise should upon any account be prescribed or 
demanded from his pupils, which does not directly, 
or indirectly at least, conduce to its attainment. To 
do otherwise is both injudicious and unjust. For 
if the operations of the husbandman during spring 
have to be selected and curtailed with the strictest 
attention to time and the seasons, how carefully ought 
the energies and the time of youth to be economized, 
when they have but one short spring time afforded 
them, during which they are to sow the seed which 
shall produce good or evil fruit for eternity ? As to 
what this great end which the teacher ought steadily 
to contemplate should be, we shall afterwards enquire; 
at present we are desirous only of establishing this 
general law in the art of teaching, that there should be 
an end accurately defined, and constantly kept in 
view ; and for the attainment of which every exercise 
prescribed in the school should assist. The teacher 
who does otherwise is travelling in the dark, and 
compelling labour for labour's sake ; — like the manu- 
facturer who would keep all his machinery in motion, 
not to make cloth, but to appear to be busy. 

2. Another law adopted in the successful prosecu- 
tion of the arts is, to use the best known means for 



2tf PRACTICAL ENQUmy INTO 

attaining any particular end. — This law rs well 
known in all the other arts, and success invariably de- 
pends upon its adoption. The fields are not now tilled 
by the hoe, nor is cotton spun by the hand. These 
modes of operating have no doujjt the recommenda- 
tion of antiquity ; but here antiquity is always at a 
discount, and no one doubts the propriety of its being 
so. The arts are advancing ; and they who would im- 
pede their progress on the plea of not departing from 
the usages of antiquity, would be pitied or laughed at. 
The art of teaching, like the other arts, depends 
for its success on a strict adherence to this law ; and 
the fear of departing in this case from the particular 
usages of our ancestors is equally unreasonable. Soft 
ground in the vallies compelled them to travel their 
pack horses right over the hills, and the want of the 
« Jenny" made them spin their yarn by the hand ; 
but still, the same principle which guided them in 
the adoption of those methods, was strictly the one 
which we are here recommending, that of " using the 
best known means for accomplishing the particular 
end." Those who adopt the principle do most honour 
to their sagacity ; while their shallow admirers, by 
abandoning the principle, and clinging to their neces- 
sarily imperfect mode of applying it, at once libel 
their good sense, and dishonour those whom they 
profess to revere. As society is rapidly advancing^ 
paternal affection would undoubtedly have prompted 
them to advise their descendants to take the benefits 
of every advance ;— and it would be as reasonable for 
us to suppose, that if they were now alive, they would 
advise us to travel over the hills on their old roads,, 
or make our cloth in the old way, as to think they 
would be gratified by our continuing to use exercises 
in education, which sound philosophy and experience 
have shewn to be fallacious and hurtful, or that they 
would be displeased by the use of those which ex-- 
tensive experiment has now proved to be natural, easy*, 
and eflficient. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 29 

These ancestral trammels have all been shaken off, 
wherever the acquisition of money is concerned. 
The mechanical processes of his forefathers have no 
charm for the modern manufacturer, when he can at- 
tain his object more economically by a recent improve- 
ment. Neither does he go blindfold upon a mere 
chance, — seldom even upon a sagacious conjecture, — 
unless there be some good grounds for its formation. 
In every successive stage of his operations, he is awake 
to the slightest appearance of defect ; and he hesitates 
not a moment in abandoning a lesser good for a 
greater, whenever he perceives it. He husbands 
time; — he husbands expense; — he husbands supervi- 
sion and risk. Every step with him is a step in ad- 
vance ; — every operation has a design ; — every move- 
ment has a meanincr ; — and he makes all unite for the 
attainment of one common object. Can we doubt 
that, in like manner, the most rigid economy of time 
and labour ought to be adopted in the art of teach- 
ing ? When the end has once been distinctly defined, 
it ought steadily to be kept in view ; and no exer- 
cise should be prescribed which does not contribute 
to its attainment. There should be no bustling 
about nothing ; no busy idleness ; no fighting against 
time; no unnecessary labour, nor useless exhaustion 
of the pupil's energies. The time of youth is so 
precious, and there is so much to be done during it, 
that economy here is perhaps of more importance 
than in any thing else. Every book or exercise, there- 
fore, which has not a palpable tendency to forward 
the great object designed by education, should by 
the teacher be at once given up. 

3. Another law which experience has established 
as necessary for the perfecting of any of the arts 
is, a fail' and honest application of the successive 
discoveries of science to its improvement. — This has 
been the uniform practice in those arts which have of 
late been making such rapid progress. The artist 
and mechanic are never indifferent to the various 
c3 



30 PllACTICAL ENaUIRY INTa 

improvements which are taking place around them ; 
nor do they ever stand apart, till they are forced upon 
their notice by third parties, or public notoriety. 
There is, in the case of the manufacturer, no nervous 
timidity about innovation ; nor does he ever attempt 
to deceive himself by ignorantly supposing that the 
change can be no improvement. — Nor will he suffer 
himself to be deceived by others. His workmen are 
not allowed, to save themselves future trouble, to be 
careless or sinister in their trials of the improvement ; 
for he knows, that however it may be with them, yet 
if his neighbour succeeds, and he fails, it may prove 
his ruin. 

Such also should be the conduct of the teacher. 
The time has now gone by when parents were igno- 
rant, either of what was communicated at school, or 
the manner in which it was taught. The improve- 
ment of their children by education, has become a 
primary object with all sensible parents ; and they 
will never again be satisfied with a school or a teach- 
er, where solid instruction, and the most useful kind 
of knowledge are not imparted. Ameliorations in 
his art, therefore, is now as necessary to the teacher, 
as improvements in machinery are to the mechanic 
and the manufacturer. It will no longer do for 
him to say, " I can see no improvement in the 
change," if the parents of his pupils have been able 
to discover it ; and the teacher who stands still in the 
present forward march of society, will soon find him- 
self left alone. The practical Educationist, like the 
mechanician, ought no doubt to be cautious in 
adopting changes upon chance ; but wherever an im- 
provement in his art has been sufficiently proved by 
fair experiment or long experience, and particularly, 
when the principle upon which its success depends 
has been fully ascertained, his rejecting the change 
on the plea of inconvenience, or from the fear of trou- 
ble, is not only an act of injustice to the parents of 
his pupils, but is a wrong which will very soon 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOK. 31 

begin to re-act upon his own interests. The effect of 
indifference to improvement in this, as in other arts, 
may not be felt for a time ; but as soon as others 
have made themselves masters of the improvements 
which he has rejected* the successive departure of 
his pupils, and the melting away of his classes, will 
at last awaken him to a sense of his folly, when it 
may be too late. Such has usually been the effect of 
remissness in the other arts ; and the present state 
of the public mind in regard to education, indicates 
a similar result in similar circumstances. 

In connection with this part of our subject, it may 
here be necessary to remark, that as the experience 
of all teachers may not be alike in the first working 
of a newly applied principle, — the principle itself, 
Avhen fully ascertained, is not on that account to be 
either belied or abandoned. There are many con- 
curring circumstances, which may make an exercise 
that succeeds well in the hands of one person, fail in 
the hands of another ; but to refuse credence to the 
principle itself, because he cannot as yet successfully 
apply it, is neither prudent nor wise. There are 
chemical experiments so exceedingly nice, and de- 
pending on so many varying circumstances, that they 
frequently fail in the hands of even good operators. 
But the chemical principles upon which they rest 
remain unchanged, although individual students may 
have not been able successfully to apply them. If 
their professor has but once fairly and undoubtedly 
succeeded in ascertaining the facts on which the 
principle is based, their failure for a thousand times 
is no proof that the ascertained principle is really a 
fallacy. In like manner, any important principle in 
education, if once satisfactorily ascertained, is a truth 
in the science, and will remain a truth, whoever may 
believe or deny it. If it has been proved to produce 
certain effects in certain given circumstances, it will in 
all future times do the same, when the circumstances 
are similar. The inability, therefore, of a parent or 



3'2 PRACTICAL ENQUIKY INTO 

teacher, to produce equal effects by its means, may 
be good enough proof of his want of skill, but it is 
no pooof of the want of inherent power in the principle 
itself. The rings of Saturn which my neighbour's 
telescope has clearly brought to view, are not blotted 
from the heavens because my pocket glass has failed 
to detect them. 

It has been by attention to these, and similar 
rules, that all the secular arts have advanced to their 
present state ; and the art of teaching must be per- 
fected by similar means. There ought therefore to 
be a distinct object in view on the part of the teach- 
er, — a specific end which he is to endeavour to arrive 
at in his intercourse with his pupil. For the attain- 
ment of this end, he must employ the best and the 
surest means that are in his power; for the same 
purpose, he ought honestly and fairly to apply the 
successive discoveries of science as they occur; and 
should never allow himself to abandon an exercise 
founded upon ascertained principles, merely because 
he at first finds difficulty in putting it in operation. 



CHAP. IV. 

On the Establishment of Sound Principles in 
Education. 

The application of the foregoing remarks to our 
present purpose, is a matter of great practical impor- 
tance. It has indeed been owing chiefly to their 
having been hitherto overlooked, that education has 
been left in the backward state in which we at present 
find it. 

But if, as we have seen, education must bend to 
the same rigid discipline to which the other sciences 
have had to submit,^ — and if teaching can be im- 
proved only by following the laws which have deter- 
mined the success of the other arts, — the question na- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 33 

turally arises, *' What is to be done now for educa- 
tion ?" — '* Where are we to begin ?" — " How are we 
to proceed ?'' — " In what manner are the principles 
of the science to be investigated, so that they shall 
most extensively promote the success of the art ? 
and how is the art to be cultivated, so that it may^ 
to the fullest extent, be benefited by the science ?"** 
To these enquiries we shall in the present chapter 
direct our attention. 

The method of investigating^ the operations of 
Nature in the several sciences is very nearly alike in 
all. For example, in the science of chemistry, as we 
have formerly noticed, the first object of the philoso- 
pher would be to take a comprehensive view of his 
whole subject, and endeavour to separate the sub- 
stances in Nature according to their great leading 
characteristics. He would at once distinguish mi- 
neral substances as differing from vegetables ; — and 
vegetable substances as differing from animals ; — 
thus forming three distinct classes of objects, blend- 
ing with each other, no doubt, but still sufficiently 
distinct to form what have been called the three king, 
doms of Nature. The various objects included un- 
der each of these he would again subdivide according 
to their several properties; — and as he went for- 
ward, he would endeavour, by careful examination 
and experiment, to ascertain, not only their combina- 
tions, but also the characteristic properties of their 
several elements. The chemist, in this method of 
investigating Nature, almost always proceeds up- 
wards, analytically, advancing from the general to 
the special, from the aggregate to its parts, endea- 
vouring to ascertain as he proceeds the laws which 
regulate their composition and decomposition, for the 
purpose simply of endeavouring to imitate them. 
By this means alone he expects to perfect the science^ 
and to benefit the arts. 

In the science of Botany, Zoology, Anatomy, Phy- 
siology, and almost all the others, the same plan. has. 



34 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

been adopted with invariable success. The subject, 
whatever it be, is looked upon as a whole, and then se- 
parated into its great divisions ; — these again, are sub- 
divided into classes ; and these again, into orders, 
genera, species, and varieties, by which means each 
minute part can be examined by itself in connection 
with the whole; the memory and the judgment are 
assisted in their references and application ; and or- 
der reigns through the whole subject, which otherwise 
would have been involved in inextricable confusion. 

In education, as in the other sciences. Nature is 
our only sure teacher; and the Educationist, there- 
fore, who desires success, must proceed in the in- 
vestigation in a similar way. He must first take a 
comprehensive view of Nature's educational processes ; 
divide them into their several kinds ; and subdivide 
these again when necessary, that each may be viewed 
alone. He must then ascertain the nature and the 
object of these processes, and observe the means and the 
methods employed for accomplishing them, that he 
may, if possible, be enabled to imitate them. In this 
way, and in this way alone, he is to perfect the science 
of education, and benefit the art of teaching. 

That this is the best way yet known of proceeding 
in investigating and improving the science of educa- 
tion, experience has already proved ; and that it must 
theoretically be so, we think can admit of little doubt. 
The operations of Nature exhibit the soundest philo- 
sophy, and the most perfect examples of art. The 
materials she selects are the most suitable for the 
purpose ; the means she employs are always the most 
simple and efficient ; and her ends are invariably 
gained at the least expense of material, labour, and 
time. In the pursuit, therefore, of any object or 
end similar to that in which we find Nature engaged, 
man's truest wisdom is to distrust his own specula- 
tions, and to learn from her teaching. He should, 
with a child-like docility, follow her leadings and 
imitate her operations, both as it respects the mate- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 35 

rials he is to employ, and the mode and order in 
which he is to use them. Were an artist to find 
himself at a loss for the want of an instrument to 
accomplish some particular purpose, or some new 
material upon which to operate, or some special, 
but as yet unknown means for attaining some new 
and important object, — we are warranted by facts to 
say, that the natural philosopher would be his best 
instructor. For if he can be directed to some similar 
operation of Nature? or have pointed out to him some 
one or more of Nature's pupils, — some animal or in- 
sect, perhaps, — whose labour or object is similar to 
his own, he will most probably find there, or have 
suggested to him by their mode of procedure, the 
very thing he is in search of. By studying their 
methods of operating, and the means employed by 
them for accomplishing their end, some principle or 
device will be exhibited, by the imitation of which 
his own special object will most readily and most 
successfully be attained. Every day's experience 
gives us additional proof of the importance and sound- 
ness of this suggestion. For it is a remarkable fact, 
that there is scarcely a useful mechanical invention 
to v/hich genius has laid claim, — and deservedly laid 
claim, — that has not its prototype somewhere in na- 
ture. The same principles, working perhaps in the 
same manner, have been silently in operation, thou- 
sands of years before the inventor was born ; but 
which, from want of observation, or the neglect of its 
practical application to useful purposes, lay concealed 
and useless. This culpable neglect in practically ap- 
plying the works and ways of God as he intended, 
has carried with it its own punishment ; for thousands 
of the conveniences and arts, which at present smooth 
and adorn the paths of civilized life, have all along 
been placed within the reach of intelligent man. If 
he had but employed his intelligence, as he ought to 
have done, in searching them out, and had asked 
himself when he perceived them, *' What does this 
teach me ?'' the very question would have suggested 



36 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

a use. This accordingly will be found to be tbc 
true way of studying nature, and one especial design 
for which a beneficent Creator has spread out his 
works for our inspection. In proof, and in illustra- 
tion of this fact, we may refer to the telescope, which 
has from the beginning had its type in the human 
€ye ; — to the formation of paper, which has been 
manufactured for thousands of years by the wasp ; — 
to the levers, joints, and pullies of the human body, of 
which the mechanist has as yet only made imperfect 
imitations ; — and to the saw of an insignificant insect, 
(the saw-fly) which has never yet been successfully 
imitated by man. 

In prosecuting our investigations into the science 
of education, therefore, our business is to study Na- 
ture in all the educational processes in which we find 
her occupied, and of which we shall find there are 
many ; — to observe and collect facts ; — to detect prin- 
ciples, and to discover the means employed in carry- 
ing them out, and the modes of their working ; — to 
trace effects back to their causes, and then again to 
follow the effects through their various ramifications, 
to some ultimate end. These are the things which 
it is the business of the Educationist to investigate, 
and to record for the benefit of the teacher and his art. 

The duty of the teacher, on the other hand, is to 
apply to his own purposes, and to turn to use in the 
prosecution of his objects, those facts discovered by 
the philosopher in the study of Nature. He should 
by all means understand the principles upon which 
Nature works, and the means which she employs for 
attaining her ends. He ought, as far as circumstances 
will allow, to arrive at his object by similar means ; 
chusing similar materials, and endeavouring invari- 
ably to work upon the same model. By honestly 
following out such a mode of procedure, he must be 
successful ; for although he can never attain to the 
perfection of Nature, yet this is obviously the best, 
if not the only method by which he can ever approxi- 
mate towards it. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF IIDUCATION. 37 



PART II. 

ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, 
AND THE METHODS SHE EMPLOYS IN CARRY- 
ING IT ON. 



CHAP. I. 

A Comprehensive View of the several Educational 
Processes carried on by Nature. 

We have seen in the former chapters, that the 
most probable method of succeeding in any difficult 
undertaking is to learn from Nature, and to endea- 
vour to imitate her. The first great question with 
the Educationist then should be, " Does Nature 
ever teach ?" If he can find her so employed, and if 
he be really willing to learn, he may rest assured, 
that by carefully studying her operations, he will be 
able to detect somiethiiig in the ends which she aims 
at, and the methods which she adopts for attaining 
these ends, that will lead him to the selection of si- 
milar means, and crown him ultimately with similar 
success. 

Now we find that Nature does teach ; and in so far 
as rational beings are concerned, whether angehc or 
human, it appears to be her chief and her noblest 
employment. In regard to the human family, she 
no doubt, at a certain period, intends that the task 
should be taken up and carried on by parents and 
teachers, under her controul ; but when we compare 
the nature and success of their operations with hers, 
we perceive the immense inferiority of their best en- 
deavours, and are obliged to confess, that in many 
instances, instead of forwarding her work, they either 
mar or destroy it. For in regard to the matter of 

D 



38 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

their teaching, it may be observed, that they can 
teach their pupils nothing, except what they or their 
predecessors have learned of Nature before ; — and as 
to the manner in which it is taught, it is generally so 
very imperfect, that for their success, teachers are often 
indebted in no small degree to the constant inter- 
ference of Nature, in what is ordinarily termed the 
'' common sense"" of their pupils, for rectifying many 
of their errors, and supplying innumerable deficien- 
cies. Of this we shall by and bye have to advert 
more particularly. 

The educational operations of Nature are univer- 
sal ; and she attaches large rewards to diligence in 
attending to them. She evidently intends, as we 
have said, that the parent and teacher should take 
up, and follow out her suggestions in this great 
work; but even when this is delayed, or altogether 
neglected, her part of the proceedings is not abandon- 
ed. Nature is so strong within the pupil, and her 
educational promptings are so powerful, that even 
without a teacher, he is able for a time to teach him- 
self. In man, and even among many of the more 
perfect specimens of the lower creation. Nature has 
suspended - the larger portion of their comforts 
and their security, upon attention to her lessons, and 
the practical application of that which she teaches. 
The dog which shuns the person who had previously 
beaten him ; the infant that clings to its nurse, and 
refuses to leave her ; the boy who refuses to cross the 
ditch he never tried before ; the savage who traces 
the foot-prints of his game; the man who shrinks 
from a ruffian countenance ; and Newton, when the 
fall of an apple prompted him to pursue successively 
the lessons which that simple event suggested to him, 
are all examples of the teachings of Nature,— speci- 
mens of the manner in which she enables her pupils 
to collect and retain knowledge, and stimulates them 
to apply it. Wherever these suggestions of Nature 
are individually neglected, there must be discomfort 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 39 

and danger, and wretchedness to the person doing so ; 
and wherever they are not taken up by communities, 
and socially taught by education of som.e kind or 
another, society must necessarily remain little better 
than savage. — The opposite of this is equally true ; 
for wherever they are personally attended to, the in- 
dividual promotes his own safety and comfort ; and 
when they are socially taken up and followed out by 
education, however imperfectly, then civilization, and 
national security, prosperity, and happiness, are the 
invariable consequences. 

The information which we are to derive from the 
Academy of Nature, is to be found chiefly in those 
instances where she is least interfered with by the 
operations of others. In these we shall endeavour 
to follow her ; and, by classifying her several pro- 
cesses, and investigating each of them in its order, 
we shall assuredly be able to arrive at some first 
principles, to guide us in imitating the modes of her 
working, and which will enable us, in some measure, 
to share in her success. 

When we take a comprehensive view of the edu- 
cational processes of Nature, we find them arranging 
themselves under four o;reat divisions, blending; into 
each other> no doubt, like the kingdoms of Nature 
and the colours of the rainbow, but still perfectly 
distinct in their great characteristics. 

The Ji7\st educational process which is observable 
in Nature's Academy, is the stimulating of her pupil 
to such an exercise of mind upon external objects, 
as tends powerfully and rapidly to expand and 
strengthen the powers of his mind. This operation 
begins with the first dawning of consciousness, and 
continues under different forms during the whole pe- 
riod of the individual's life. 

The second educational process, which in its com- 
mencement is perhaps coeval with the first, is Na- 
ture's stimulating her pupil to the acquisition of 
knowledge, for the purpose of retaining and using it. 



40 PRACTICAL ENaUIIlY INTO 

The third consists in the disciplining of her pupil 
in the practical use, and proper application of the 
knowledge received ; by which means the knowledge 
itself becomes better understood, better remembered^ 
and much more at the command of the will than it 
was before : — 

And her fourth educational process consists, in 
training her pupil to acquire facility in communicat- 
ing by language, his knowledge and experience ta 
others. 

The first of these four general departments in 
Nature's educational process, is the developeme^it 
and cultivation of the powers of her pupifs mind — 
This part of Nature's work begins at the first dawn 
of intelligence ; and it continues through every other 
department of her educational process. For several 
months during infancy, sensation itself is but lan- 
guid. The first indistinct perceptions of existence 
gradually give place to a dreamy and uncertain con- 
sciousness of personal identity. — Pain is felt ; light 
is perceived ; objects begin to be defined, and dis- 
tinguished ; ideas are formed ; and then, but not till 
then, reflection, imagination, and memory, are gra- 
dually brought into exercise, and cultivated. It is 
the extent and strength of these faculties, as we shall 
afterwards see, that is to measure the educational 
progress of the child ; and therefore it is, that the 
first object of Nature seems to be, to secure their 
proper developement. The child feels and thinks; 
and it is these first feelings and thoughts, frequently 
repeated, that enable it gradually to extend its men- 
tal operations. It is in this way only that the powers 
of the mind in infants are expanded and strengthen- 
ed, as there can be no mental culture without mental 
exercise. While a child is awake, therefore, Nature 
prompts him to constant and unwearied mental exer- 
tion ; by which means he becomes more and more fa- 
miliar with external objects ; acquires a better com- 
mand over his own mind in perceiving and remem- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 41 

beriiig them ; and becomes more and more fitted, not 
only for receiving constant accessions of knowledge, 
but also for putting that knowledge to use. 

The second part of Nature's educational process, we 
have said, consists in her powerfully stimulating her 
pupil to the acquisition of knowledge. — This, which we 
call the second part of Nature's operations, has been 
going on from an early period of the child's history, 
and it acts usually in conjunction with the first. As 
soon as an infant can distinguish objects? it begins to 
form ideas reoardino; them. It remembers their 
shape; it gradually acquires a knowledge of their 
qualities ; and these it remembers, and, as we shall 
immediately see, is prompted to put to use upon 
proper occasions. — It is in the acquisition of this kind 
of knowledge that the principle of curiosity begins 
to be developed. The child's desire for information is 
increased with every new accession ; and for this rea- 
son, its mental activity and restlessness, while awake, 
have no cessation. Every glance of the eye, every 
motion of the hands or limbs made to gratify its curi- 
osity, as it is called, is only an indication of its de- 
sire for information : — Every sight or sound calls its 
attention ; every portable object is seized, mouthed, 
and examined, for the purpose of learning its quali- 
ties. These operations at the instigation of Nature 
are so common, that they are scarcely observed ; but 
when we examine more minutely into their effects, 
they become truly wonderful. For example, were 
we to hear of an infant of two or three years of age, 
having learned in the course of a few months to 
distinguish each soldier in a regiment of .Negroes, 
whose features their very parents perhaps would have 
some difficulty in discriminating ; if he could call each 
individual by his name ; knew also the names and 
the uses of their several accoutrements; and, besides 
all this, had learned to understand and to speak their 
language ; — we would be surprised and incredulous. 
And yet this would be an accumulation of knowledge, 

d3 



42 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

not much greater than is attained in the same space 
of time by many of the feeble unsophisticated pupils 
of Nature. — Infants, having no temptation to depart 
from her mode of discipline, become in a short period 
acquainted with the forms, and the uses, and even the 
names, of thousands of persons and objects, not only 
without labour, but with vast satisfaction and delight. 

The training of her pupils to the practical use of 
their knowledge, forms the third department in Na- 
ture's educational process. — This is the great end 
which the two previous departments were designed 
to accomplish. This is Nature^s chief object ; — all 
the others are obviously subordinate. The cultiva- 
tion of the mind, and the acquisition of knowledge 
were necessary ; — but that necessity arose from the 
circumstance of their being preparatory to this. Na- 
ture, in fact, appears to have stamped this department 
of her operations almost exclusively with her own 
seal ; — repudiating all knowledge that remains use- 
less, and in a short time blotting it entirely from the 
memory of her pupils ; while that portion of their ac- 
quired knowledge, on the contrary, which is useful 
and is put to use, becomes in proportion more fami- 
liar, and more permanent. It is also worthy of re- 
mark, that the knowledge which is most useful, is 
always most easily and pleasantly acquired. 

The superior importance of this department of 
education is very observable. In the previous de- 
partments of Nature's educational process, the child 
was induced to acquire new ideas ; — in this he is 
prompted to make use of them. In the former he 
was taught to know ; — in this he is trained to act. 
For example, if he has learned that his nurse is kind> 
Nature now prompts him to act upon that knowledge* 
and he accordingly strains every nerve to get to his 
nurse ; — if he has learned that comfits are sweet, he 
acts upon that knowledge, and endeavours to procure 
them; — and if he has once experimentally learned 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 43 

that the fire will burn, he Avill ever afterwards keep 
from the fire. 

Last of all comes the fourth, or supplementary 
step in this beautiful educational process of Nature. 
It consists in gradually training her pupil to com- 
municate the knowledge and eosperience wJiich he 
has attained. — It is probable that Nature begins this 
part of her process before the child has acquired the 
use of language ; — but as it is by language chiefly 
that man holds fellowship with man, it is not till 
he has learned to speak that the mental exer- 
cise on which its success depends, 'becomes sufficient- 
ly marked and obvious. It consists, not in the ac- 
quisition of language so much, as in the use of lan- 
guage after it has been gained. The pupil is for 
this purpose prompted by Nature to think and to 
speak at the same moment; — mentally to prepare 
one sentence, while he is giving utterance to its pre- 
decessor. That this is not the result of instinct, 
but is altogether an acquisition made under the 
tuition of Nature by the mental exertions of the in- 
fant himself, is obvious from the fact, that he is at 
first incapable of it, and never pronounces three, 
and very seldom two words consecutively without 
a pause between each. This the child continues to 
do after he is perfectly familiar with the meaning of 
many words, and after he can also pronounce each of 
them individually. In giving utterance to the first 
words which he uses, there is an evident suspension of 
the mind in regard to every thirjg else. His whole 
attention appears to be concentrated upon the word 
and its pronunciation. He cannot think of aviy thing 
else and pronounce the word at the same time ; and it 
is not till after long practice that \ic can utter two, 
three, or more words in a sentence, without hesitation 
and a decided pause between them. It is only by 
degrees that he acquires the ability to utter a phrase, 
and at last a short sentence, without interruption. 
Nature prompts the child to this exercise, which from 



44 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

the first attempt, to the full flow of eloquence in the 
extemporaneous debater, consists simply in command- 
ing and managing one set of ideas in the mind, at the 
moment the person is giving utterance to others. 
This cannot be done by tke child, but it is gradually 
acquired by the man ; and we shall see in its proper 
place, that this acquisition is entirely the result of a 
mental exercise, such as we have here described, and 
to which various circumstances in childhood and youth 
are made directly subservient. 

Here then we have the highway of education, 
marked oiF, and walled in by Nature herself. That 
these four great departments in her educational pro- 
cess will be much better defined, and their parts better 
understood, when experience has given more ample 
opportunities for their observation, cannot be doubt- 
ed ; and it is not improbable, that future investiga- 
tions will suggest a different arrangement of heads, 
and a different modification of their parts also ; but 
still, the great outline of the whole, we think, is so 
distinctly marked, that, so far as they go, there can 
be little mistake ; and by following them, we are most 
likely to obtain a large amount of those benefits which 
education is intended to secure. — To excel Nature is 
impossible ; but by endeavouring to imitate her, we 
may at least approach nearer to her perfections. 

It is not enough, however, for us to perceive the 
great outlines of Nature's operations in education ; 
we must endeavour to follow her into the details, and 
investigate the means which she employs for carrying 
them into practical effect. We shall therefore take 
up the several departments above enumerated in their 
order, and endeavour to trace the laws which regulate 
her operations in each, for the purpose of assisting 
the teacher in his attempts to imitate them. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EI>UCATION. 45 

CHAP. II. 

On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating 
the Powers of the Mind. 

The Jirst step in Nature's educational process, is 
the cultivation of the powers of the mind ; and, 
without entering into the recesses of metaphysics, we 
would here only recal to the recollection of the read- 
er, that the mind, so far as we yet know, can be cul- 
tivated in no other way than by voluntary exercise : 
— not by mere sensation, or perception, nor by the 
involuntary flow of thought which is ever passing 
through the mind; bu: by the active mental opera- 
tion called " thinking:,' — the voluntary exertion of 
the powers of the mind upon the idea presented to 
it, and which we have denominated '■'- reiteration,""* 
as perhaps best descriptive of that thinking of the pre- 
sented idea " over again,"* by which alone, as we shall 
see, the mind is cultivated, and knowledge increased. 

It is also here worthy of remark, that the cultiva- 
tion of the powers of her pupiPs mind, as a pre- 
liminary to their acquiring and applying of know- 
ledge, appears to be a settled arrangement of Nature, 
and one which must be rigidly followed by the teach- 
er, wherever success is to be hoped for. Analogy, 
in other departments of Nature's operations, proves 
its necessity, and points out its wisdom ; for she is 
never premature, and nev^er stimulates her pupils to 
any work, till they have been properly prepared for 
accomplishing it. Hence the consistency and impor- 
tance of commencing the process of education, by 
expanding and cultivating the powers of the mind, 
preparatory to the future exertions of the pupil ; and 
hence also the vvisdom of requiring no more from 
the child, than the state of his mental powers at the 

* Note A. 



46 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

time are capable of performing. Our object, at pre- 
sent, is to discover the means employed by Nature 
for accomplishing this preliminary object, that we 
may, by imitating her plans, obtain the greatest 
amount of benefit. 

In infancy, and during the early part of a child's 
life, each of the thousands of objects and actions 
which are presented to its observation, falls equally 
on the organs of sense, and each of them might, if 
the child had pleased, have become objects of percep- 
tion, as well as objects of sensation. But it is evi- 
dent, that till the mind occupy itself upon one or 
more of these objects, there can be no mental exer- 
cise, and, of course, no mental culture. On the con- 
trary, if the mind shall single out any one object 
from the mass that surrounds it, — shall entertain the 
idea suggested by its impression on the organs of 
sense, and think of it — that is, review it on the mind 
— there is then mental exercise, and, in consequence, 
mental cultivation. From this obvious truth it ne- 
cessarily follows, that the cultivation of the mind 
does not depend upon the multitude of objects pre- 
sented to the observation of a child, but only on those 
which it really does observe, — ^which it looks at, and 
thinks upon, by an active voluntary exercise of its own 
powers. The child, no doubt, might have smelt 
every odour ; it might have listened to every sound 
that entered the ear ; and it might have looked upon 
every image that entered the eye; but we know that 
it did not. A few of them only were thought of, — 
the ideas which they suggested were alone " reiterat- 
ed*" by the mind, — and therefore they, and they alone, 
tended to its cultivation. 

As this act of the mind lies at the root of all men- 
tal improvement, during every stage of the pupil's 
education, it becomes a matter of considerable im- 
portance, that its nature, and mode of operation, 
should be thoroughly understood. 

Let us for this purpose suppose that a lighted 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. ij 

candle is suddenly presented before a young infant. 
He looks at it ; he thinks of it ; his mind is employ- 
ed with the flame of the candle in a manner quite 
different from what it is upon any thing else in the 
room. All the other images which enter the eye fail 
to make an impression upon the mind ; but this object 
which the child looks at, — observes, — does this ; and 
accordingly, while it is passive as to every thing else, 
the mind is found to be actively engaged with the 
candle. He not only sees it, but he looks at it. 
This, and similar " reiterations'' of ideas by the mind, 
frequently repeated by the infant, gradually com- 
municate to it a consciousness of mental power, and 
enable him more and more easily to wield it. Every 
such instance of the reiteration of an idea, — of the 
voluntarily exercise of active thought? — strengthens 
the powers of the mind, so that he is soon able to 
look at and follow with his eyes other objects, al- 
though they are much less conspicuous than the glare 
of a candle. 

When we examine the matter a little farther in re- 
gard to infants, we perceive, that all the little arts 
used by the mother or the nurse, to " amuse the 
child,"' as it is called, are nothing more than means 
employed to excite this reiteration of ideas by the 
mind. A toy, for example, is presented to the infant, 
and his attention is fixed upon it. He is not satisfied 
with passively seeing the toy, as he sees all the other 
objects in the room, but he actively looks at it. Nor 
is this enough ; the toy is usually seized, handled, 
mouthed, and turned ; and each movement prompts 
the mind to active thought, — to reiterate the idea 
which each of the sensations suggests. These impres- 
sions are no doubt rapid, but they are real ; and each 
of them has been reiterated, — actively thought of, — 
before they could either be received, or remembered ; 
and it is only by these impressions frequently repeat- 
ed, in which the mind is vigorously and dehghtfully 



48 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

engaged, that it acquires that activity and strength 
which we so frequently v/itness in the young. 

At a more advanced period during childhood and 
youth, we find the cultivation of the mind still de- 
pending upon the same principle. It is not enough 
that numerous objects be presented to the senses of 
the pupil ; or that numerous words or sounds be 
made to vibrate in his ears ; or even that he himself 
be made mechanically to utter them. This may be 
done, and yet the mind may remain perfectly inactive 
with respect to them all : — Nay, experience shews, 
that during such mechanical exercises, his mind may 
all the time be actively employed upon something 
else. There must therefore, not only be a hearing, 
or a reading of the words which convey an idea, but 
he must make the idea his own, by thinking it over 
again for himself. Hence it is that mental vigour 
is not acquired in proportion to the number of pages 
that the pupil is compelled to read ; nor to the length 
of the discourses which are delivered in bis hearing ; 
nor to the multiplicity of objects placed before him. 
It is found entirely to depend upon his diligence in 
thinking for himself ; — in reiterating in his own mind 
the ideas which he hears, or reads, or which are sug- 
gested to his mind by outward objects. This is still 
the same act of the mind which we have described in 
the infant, with this very important difference, how- 
ever, that a large portion of his ideas is now sug- 
gested hy words, instead oi things ; but it is the ideas, 
and not the words, that the mind lays hold of, and by 
which its powers are cultivated. When this act 
therefore is successfully forced upon a child in any of 
his school operations, the mind will be disciplined and 
improved ; — -but wherever it is not produced, however 
plausible or powerful the exercise may appear to be, 
it will on scrutiny be found to be totally worthless in 
education, — a mere mechanical operation, in which, 
there being no mental exertion, there can be no mental 
culture. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 49 

In the adult, as well as in the young and the in- 
fant, the culture of the mind is carried on in every 
case by the operation of the same principle. — How- 
ever various the means employed for this purpose 
may be, they all depend for their success upon 
this kind of active thought, — this reiteration of 
the ideas suggested in the course of reading, hear- 
ing, observation, or reasoning. A man may turn a 
wheel, or point pins, or repeat words from infancy to 
old age, without his mind's being in the least percep- 
tible degree benefited by such operations ; while the 
mill-wright, the engineer, or the artist, whose em- 
ployments require varied and active thought, cannot 
pursue his employment for a single day, without men- 
tal culture, and an acquisition of mental strength. — 
The reason is, that in mere mechanical operations 
there is nothing to induce this act of reiteration, — 
this active mental exercise of which we are speaking. 
In the former case, the individual is left to the train 
of thought in the mind, which appears to afford no 
mental cultivation ; — whereas, in the latter, the mind 
is, by the acts of comparing, judging, trying, and 
deciding, which the nature of his occupation renders 
necessary, constantly excited to active thought, — that 
is, to the reiteration of the several ideas presented 
to it. 

These remarks may be thought by some to be ex- 
ceedingly commonplace and self-evident. — It may be 
so. If they be admitted, we ask n@ more. — Our pur- 
pose at present is answered, if we have detected a 
principle in education, by the operation of which the 
powers of the mind are invariably expanded and 
strengthened ; — an effect which, so far as we yet know, 
in its absence never takes place. It is by means 
of this principle alone that Nature accomplishes this 
important object, both in young and old ; but its 
effects are especially observable in the young, where, 
her operations not being so much interfered with, we 
find her producing by its means the most extraordi- 

E 



50 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

nary effects, and that even during the most imbecile 
period of her pupiFs existence. 

In concluding this part of our investigations we 
would very briefly remark, that the existence of this 
principle in connection with the cultivation of the 
mind, accounts in a very satisfactory manner for the 
beneficial results which usually accompany the study 
of languages, mathematics, and some other branches 
of education similar in their nature. — These objects 
of study, when once acquired? may never afterwards 
be used, and will consequently be lost ; but in learn- 
ing them the pupil was compelled to think,— to exer- 
cise his own mind on the subjects taught, — to reflect, 
and to reiterate the ideas communicated to him, 
till they had been fully mastered. The mental vigour 
which was at first forced upon the pupil, by these 
beneficial exercises, remains with him, and is exer- 
cised upon other objects, as they are presented to his 
observation in ordinary life. — The mind in com- 
mencing these studies gradually emancipates itself 
from the mechanical tendencies which an improper 
system of teaching had previously formed, and now 
gathers strength daily by this natural mode of exer- 
cising its powers. It is the effects of this kind of 
discipline that constitute the chief element of a 
cultivated mind. In this principally consists the 
difference between a man of " liberal education,*" 
and others who have been less highly favoured. — 
His superiority does not lie in his ability to read 
Latin and Greek, — for these attainments may long 
ago have been forgotten and lost ;— -but in the state 
of his mind, and the superior cultivation of the men- 
tal powers.— He possesses a clearness, a vigour, and 
a grasp of mind above others, which enable him at a 
glance to comprehend a statement ; — to judge of its 
accuracy ;• — and, without effort, to arrange and com- 
municate his ideas concerning it. This ability, as we 
have seen, can be acquired only by active mental ex« 
ercise, and is not necessarily the result of extensive 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 51 

reading, nor is it always accompanied by extensive 
knowledge. It is the natural and the necessary pro- 
duct of mental discipline, through which the above 
described act of " reiteration," like a golden thread, 
runs from beginning to end. It is the fire of intellect, 
kindled at first perhaps by classical, and mathematical 
studies ; but which now, collecting force and fuel from 
every circumstance of life, glows and shines? long 
after the materials which first excited the flame have 
disappeared. 

If then, as we formerly explained, the arts are to 
derive benefit from the investigations of science, we 
are led to the conclusion, that the wisdom of the 
Teacher will consist in taking advantage of the prin- 
ciple which has been here exhibited. He should not 
speculate nor theorize, nor go forward inconsiderately 
in using exercises, the benefits of which are at least 
questionable ; but he ought implicitly to follow Na- 
ture in the path which she has thus pointed out to 
him. One chief object with him should be, the cul- 
tivation of the minds of his pupils ; and the only 
method by which he can attain success in doing so 
has now been stated. He must invent, or procure 
some exercise, or series of exercises, by which the 
act of " reiteration'*' in the minds of his pupils shall 
be regularly and systematically carried on. — He 
must induce them to think for themselves, and to 
exercise the powers of their own minds deliberately 
and frequently, — in the same manner as we see Na- 
ture operating in the mind of a lively and active 
child. When he can accomplish this, he will, and he 
must succeed ; whereas, if he allow an exercise to be 
prepared where this act of the mind is absent, he 
may rest assured that he is deceiving both himself 
and the child. — The laws of Nature are inflexible ; 
and while she will undoubtedly countenance and re- 
ward these who act upon the principles which she has 
established, she will as certainly leave those who ne- 
glect them to eat the " fruit of their own doings." 



52 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY IN'TO 

— But the pupil, more than the Teacher is the suffer- 
er. Under the pure discipline of Nature in the in- 
fant and the child, learning is not only their business? 
but their delight; and it is only when her principles 
are unknown, or violently outraged, that education 
becomes a burden, and the school-house a prison. 



CHAP. III. 

On the Means hy which Nature enables her Pupils 
to acquire Knowledge. 

The second stage of the pupiPs advance under the 
teaching of Nature is that in which she prompts and 
assists him in the acquisition of knowledge. — The 
importance of this department of a child's education 
has uniformly been acknowledged ; — so much so, in- 
deed, that it has too frequently absorbed the whole 
attention of the Teacher, as if the possession of know- 
ledge were the whole of education. — That this is a 
mistake we shall afterwards see; because the value 
of knowledge must always be in proportion to the use 
we can make of it ; but it is equally true, that as we 
cannot use knowledge till we have acquired it, its ac- 
quisition as a preliminary step is of the greatest im- 
portance. Our intention is at present, to enquire in- 
to the means employed by Nature, for enabling her 
pupils to acquire, to retain, and to classify their know- 
ledge ; so that, by ascertaining and imitating her 
methods, we may in some degree share in her success. 

For some time during the early years of childhood 
Nature is the chief, or the only Teacher; and the 
contrast between her success at that time, and the 
success of the parent or teacher who succeeds her, is 
very remarkable, and deserves consideration. 

When we examine this process in the case of in- 
fants, we see Nature acting without interference, and 
therefore with uiideviating success. Within a few 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDITCATIOTT. 53 

months after the child has attained some degree of 
consciousness, we find that Nature, under every dis- 
advantage of body and mind, has succeeded in com- 
municating to the infant an amount of knowledge, 
which, when examined in detail appears very wonder- 
ful. — The child has been taught to know his relations 
and friends ; he has acquired the ability to use his 
limbs, and muscles, and organs, and the knowledge 
how to do so in a hundred different ways. He has 
become familiar with the form, the colour, the tex- 
ture, and the names of hundreds of articles of dress, 
of furniture, of food, and of amusement, not only 
without fatigue, but in the exercise of the purest 
dehght, and with increasing energy. He has begun 
to contrast objects, and to compare them; and this 
capacity he evinces by an undeviating accuracy in 
choosing those things which please him, and in re- 
jecting those things which he dislikes. But above 
all, the infant, along with all this substantial know- 
ledge, has been taught to understand a language^ 
and even to speak it. The fact of all this having 
been accomplished by a child of only two or three 
years of age, is so common, that the mysterious prin- 
ciples which it involves, are too generally overlooked. 
We thoughtlessly allow them to escape observation, 
as if they were mere matters of instinct, and were to 
be ranked with the spider's catching its prey, or the 
sparrow's building its nest. But the principles which- 
regulate these different operations are perfectly dissi- 
milar. In the case of the spider and the sparrow 
there is no teaching, and, of course, no learning. 
Their first web, and their first nest, are as perfect as 
the last ; but in the case of the infant, with only twa 
or three exceptions, there is nothing that he does, 
and nothing that he knows, which he has not really 
learned, — acquired by experience under the tuition? 
of Nature, by the actual use of his own mental an^ 
physical powers. 

The benefits accruing to education, from success- 



54 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

fully imitating Nature in this department of her pro- 
cess, will be incalculable ; not only in adding to the 
amount of knowledge communicated, but in the ease 
and delight which the young will experience in ac- 
quiring it. All must admit that the pleasure, as 
well as the rapidity, of the educational process in 
the young, continues only during the time that Na- 
ture is their teacher ; — and that her operations are 
generally checked, or neutralized by the mismanage- 
ment of those who supersede her work, and begin 
to theorize for themselves. The proof of this is to 
be found in the fact, that although a child is much 
less capable of acquiring knowledge between one 
and three years of age, than he is between eight 
and ten ; yet, generally, the amount of his intel- 
lectual attainments by his school exercises, during 
the two latter years, bears no proportion to those of 
the former, when Nature alone was bis teacher. In 
the one case, too, his knowledge was acquired with- 
out effort or fatigue, and in the exercise of the 
most delightful feelings ; — in the other, quite the 
reverse. 

That we shall ever be able to equal Nature in this 
part of her educational process, is not to be expect- 
ed ; but that, by following up the principles which 
she has developed, snd imitating the methods by 
which she accomplishes her ends, we shall become 
more and more successful, there can be no doubt. 
The method, therefore, to be adopted by us is, to 
examine carefully the principles which she employs 
with the young, through the several stages of her 
process, and then, by adopting exercises which em- 
body these principles, to proceed in a course similar 
to that which she has pointed out. 

In prosecuting this plan, then, our object must 
be, first, to examine generally the various means em- 
ployed by Nature} in the acquisition of knowledge 
by the youngj— and then to attend more in detail to 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 55 

the mode by which she apphes the principles involv- 
ed in each. 

These general means appear to consist of four 
distinct principles, which, for want of better defini- 
tions, we shall denominate " Reiteration," " Indivi- 
^duation, or Abstraction," " Grouping, or Associa- 
tion,'' and " Classification, or Analysing."* 

The first is the act of " Reiteration," of which we 
have already spoken, as the chief instrument in culti- 
vating the powers of the mind, and without which, 
we shall also find, there can be no acquisition of 
knowledge. The second is the principle of " Indi- 
viduation," by which Nature communicates the know- 
ledge of single ideas, or single objects, by constrain- 
ing the child to concentrate the powers of its mind 
upon one object, or idea, till that object or idea is 
familiar, or, at least, known. The third is the com- 
mon principle of " Grouping, or Association," and 
appears to depend, in some degree, on the imaginative 
powers, by which a child begins to associate objects 
or truths together, after they have become indivi- 
dually familiar ; so that any one of them, when af- 
terwards presented to the mind, enables the pupil at 
a glance, to command all the others which were ori- 
ginally associated with it. The fourth is the princi- 
ple of " Classification, or Analysing," by which the 
mind distributes objects or truths according to their 
nature, — puts every truth or idea, as it is received, 
into its proper place, and among objects or ideas of 
a similar kind. This classification of objects is not, 
as in the principle of grouping, regulated according 
to their accidental relation to each other, by which 
the canary and the cage in which it is confined would 
be classed together ; but according to their nature 
and character, by which the canary would be classi- 
fied with birds, and the cage among other articles of 
household furniture. All knowledge, so far as we 

, • Note A. 



56 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

are aware, appears to be communicated and retained 
for use, by means of these four principles; and we 
shall now proceed to examine the mode in which each 
of them is employed by Nature for that purpose. 



CHAP. IV. 

On Natures Method of communicating Knowledge 
to the Young hy the Principle of Reiteration. 

We have, in a former chapter, endeavoured to des- 
cribe that particular act of the mind which generally 
follows simple perception, and by which an idea, 
when presented to it, is made the subject of active 
thought, or is " reiterated'''' again to itself. We have 
found upon good evidence, that it is by this process, 
whether simple or complex, that the powers of the 
mind are cultivated ; and we now proceed to shew, 
that it is by the same act, and by it alone, that any 
portion of knowledge is ever communicated.* No 
truth, or idea of any kind, can make an effective en- 
trance into the mind, or can find a permanent lodge- 
ment in the memory, so as to become " knowledge," 
until it has successfully undergone this process. 

There are two ways by which we usually acquire 
knowledge : — The one is by observation, without the 
use of language, and which is common to us with 
those who are born deaf and dumb ; and the other i& 
through the medium of words, either heard or read. 
In both cases, however, the knowledge retained con- 
sists entirely of the several ideas which the objects 
or the words convey ; and what we are now to shew,, 
is, that these ideas thus conveyed, can neither be re- 
ceived by the mind, nor retained by the memory, till 
they have undergone this process of ^' reiteration.*^"* 

• Note Bo. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 5^ 

While, on the contrary, it will be seen that, when- 
ever this process really takes place, the idea thus 
reiterated does become part of our knowledge, and 
is, according to circumstances, more or less perma- 
nently fixed upon the memory. We shall for this 
purpose endeavour to trace the operation of the prin- 
ciple, both in the case of ideas communicated by ob- 
jects without language, and in those conveyed to the 
mind by means of words. 

That this act of reiteration of an idea by the mind, 
must take place, before objects of perception can be- 
come part of our knowledge, will, we think, be ob- 
vious, from a consideration of the following facts. — 
When, for example, we are in a crowded room, or 
in the fields, numerous sounds enter the ear, — thou- 
sands of images enter into and impress the eye, yet 
not one of these becomes part of our knowledge till 
it is thought of; — that is, till the idea suggested by 
the sensation, has not only been perceived, but reite- 
rated by the mind. This will appear to many so 
plain, that any farther illustration of the fact may be 
deemed useless. But experience has shewn, that the 
illustration of this important process in education, is 
not only expedient, but is really necessary ; as the 
overlooking of this simple principle has often been 
the cause of great inconsistences on the part of teach- 
ers. We shall therefore endeavour to exhibit the 
working of the principle in various forms, that it may 
be fully appreciated when we come to apply it. 

Let us then suppose two children taken silently 
through a museum of curiosities, the one active and 
lively, the other dull and listless. It would be found 
on retiring, that the former would be able to give an 
account of many things which he saw, and that the 
other would remember little or nothing. In this 
case, all the objects in the exhibition were seen by 
both ; and the question arises, '' Why does the know- 
ledge of the one, so much exceed that of the other ?^* 
The reason is, that the mind of the one was active. 



58 PRxVCTTCAL ENQUIRY INTO 

while the mind of the other was in a great measure 
inactive. Both saw the objects ; but only one looked 
at them. The one actively employed his mind — 
fixed his eye on an object, and thought of it ; that 
is, he reiterated the ideas it suggested to him, whe- 
ther as to form, or colour, or movement, and by 
doing so, the ideas thus reiterated, were eifectively 
received, and given over to the keeping of the me- 
mory. The other child saw the whole ; they were 
perhaps objects of perception ; but he allowed his 
sensations to die away as they were received ; and his 
mind was left to wander, or to remain under the 
dreamy influence of a mere passive and evanescent 
train of thought. His " attention"' was not arrest- 
ed ; — his mind was not actively engaged on any of 
the articles he saw ; in other words, the ideas which 
they suggested were not " reiterated."* 

Now, that it was the want of this mental reitera- 
tion which was the cause, and the only cause, why 
this very usual means of acquiring knowledge failed 
to communicate it, may be proved we think by a very 
simple experiment. For if we shall suppose that 
the child who was obtaining no knowledge by means 
of the various curiosities around him, had been asked 
at the time a question respecting any of them, — a 
stuiFed dog, for example, — his attention would have 
been arrested, and his mind would have been roused 
to active thought. The words, " What is that .?" 
from his teacher, or companion, would have made 
him look at it, and reiterate the ideas of its form and 
colour, so far as to enable him to give an answer. 
And if he does so, it will be found afterwards, on 
leaving the place, that although he might have re- 
mained unconscious of the presence of all the other 
objects in the museum, he will remember the stuffed 
dog, merely because, by the question, the idea it 
suggested was taken up, and reiterated by the mind ; 

* Note C, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 59 

while the sensations caused by all the rest, were al- 
lowed to pass away. 

There is another circumstance of daily occur- 
rence, which adds to the evidence that it is this prin- 
ciple which we have called «' reiteration," which 
forms the chief, if not the only avenue, by which 
ideas find access to the mind ; and it is this : — That 
when at any time we bring to recollection someform« 
er circumstance of life, however remote, or when v^e 
recal any part of our former knowledge or experience, 
it comes up to the mind, accompanied with the per- 
fect consciousness, that, at the time we are thinking 
of, this act of reiteration had taken place upon it ; 
that we most assuredly have thought of it before. 
We are not more certain that it occupies our thoughts 
now, than we are that it did so when it occurred ; — 
that the operation of which we are at present speak- 
ing, did actually then take place; and that it was by 
our doing so then, that it is remembered now. This 
circumstance, when duly considered, is of itself, we 
think, a sufficient proof, that no part of our know- 
ledge, — not a single idea, — can be acquired, or re- 
tained on the memory by any other process, than by 
this act of reiteration. 

Hence then it is plain, that all the knowledge 
which we receive by observation, without the use of 
language, is received and retained on the memory by 
the operation of this principle ; and we will now pro- 
ceed to shew, that the same process must also take 
place, when our ideas are received by means of words, 
whether these be spoken or read. 

It is of great importance for us to remember, that 
the only legitimate use of words is to convey ideas ; 
and that Nature rigidly refuses to acknowledge any 
other use to which they may be put. Hence it is, 
that in conversation, we are quite unconscious of the 
words which our friend uses in communicating his 
ideas. Nature impels us to lay hold of the ideas 
alone; and in proof of this we find, that we have 



60 PRACTICAL EXaUIRY INTO 

only to attempt to concentrate our attention upon 
the icords he uses, and then we are sure to lose sight 
of the ideas which the words were intended to con- 
vey. Hence it is, that our opinion of the style, and 
the language, and the manner of a speaker, when the 
subject itself is not familiar, are formed more by in- 
direct impressions, than by direct attention to these 
things while he speaks ; and oftener by reflection af- 
terwards, than by any critical observation during the 
time. The reason of this, we may remark once for 
all, is, that what the mind reiterates it remembers, — 
but nothing more. If during the hearing, it reiter- 
ates the ideas, it will then remember the ideas; but 
if it reiterates the words without the ideas, it will 
remember nothing but words. Those therefore who 
sow words in the minds of the young, hoping after- 
wards to reap ideas, are as inconsistent as those who 
seek to " gather grapes of thorns, or flgs of thistles."*"* 

Knowledge is received by the use of words in two 
ways, — either by oral speech, or by written language ; 
but in both cases, the reception of the ideas is still 
governed by reiteration. We shall endeavour to 
examine the operation in both cases. 

Let us suppose that a teacher announces to a class 
of young children, that '' Cain killed his brother 
Abel,"' — and then examines the state of each child's 
mind in regard to it. All of them heard the words, 
but some only perhaps are now in possession of the 
truth communicated. Those who are so, followed 
the teacher in his announcement, not so much in rei- 
terating the wordsi as in reiterating the idea, — the 
truth itself; and therefore it is, that they are now 
acquainted with the fact. Of those who heard, but 
have failed to add this truth to their stock of know- 
ledge, there may be two classes ; — those who attended 
to what was said, but failed to interpret the words ; 
and those whose attention was not excited at all 

* Note D. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 61 

Those who failed to interpret the words, or to extract 
the idea from them, reiterated the words to them- 
selves, and would perhaps be able to repeat the 
words again, but they do so in the same manner that 
a person reads or repeats words in an unknown 
tongue. The idea, — the truth, — is not yet perceived, 
and therefore cannot be remembered. The others 
who remember nothing, have reiterated nothing; 
their minds remained inactive. They also heard the 
words, but they failed to listen to them ; in the same 
way as they often see objects, but do not look at 
them. Here it is evident that every child who rei- 
terated the idea in his own mind, is in possession of 
the fact communicated; and all who did not do so, 
even although they reiterated the words, have no ad- 
dition made to their knowledge ; which shews that it is 
only by this act of the reiteration of the ideas, that 
any portion of our knowledge is ever acquired. 

That this is a correct exhibition of the principle, 
and a legitimate inference from the phenomena, may 
be still farther proved by an experiment similar to 
one formerly recommended. Let the teacher, in the 
middle of a story, ask some of the inattentive pupils 
a question respecting some of the persons or things 
he is speaking about, and force the reiteration of that 
part of the narrative in the child's mind by getting 
an answer, and it will be found at the close, that al- 
thoue^h he mav remember nothing else of all that he 
heard, yet he will most perfectly remember that part 
about which he was questioned, and respecting which 
he returned an answer. 

The same thing may he ascertained by our own 
experience, in hearing a lecture or sermon, or even 
in conversation with a friend. In these cases, as long 
a^ our attention is kept up, — that is, as long as we 
continue to reiterate the ideas that we hear, — we may 
remember them ; but when our minds flag, or wan- 
der ; in other words, when we cease to reiterate the 
ideas of the speaker, the sounds enter our ear, but 

F 



62 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

tlie matter is c^one. All that has been said during 
that period of inattention has been lost ; it never has 
formed, and never can form, part of our knowledge. 

Thus we see, that in the act of hearing oral com- 
munications, the principle of reiteration of the ideas 
is obviously necessary for the acquiring of knowledge ; 
and we shall now shew, that it is equally necessary in 
the act of reading. 

Many persons must have witnessed children read- 
ing distinctly, and fluently perhaps, who yet were not 
made one whit wiser by what they read. The act of 
reading was correctly performed, and yet there was 
no accession to their knowledge. The cause of this 
is easily explained. The ideas conveyed by the 
words have not been reiterated by the mind, — per- 
haps they were never perceived. For as long as the 
act of reading is difficult, the words vmdergo this 
process first, and the ideas must be gleaned after- 
wards. Hence it is, that children, when hurried from 
lesson to lesson before they can read them so easily 
as to perceive and reiterate the ideas while reading, 
acquire the habit of decyphering the words alone, 
and the eye from practice reads mechanically, while 
the mind at the moment is usually wandering, or is 
encvaffed in attending: to something else. Nature, as 
we have before shewed in the act of hearing, does not 
intend that the mind should pay attention both to the 
words and the ideas at the same time ; and readincr 
being only an artificial substitute for hearing, is made 
subject to the same law. It is the ideas that Nature 
induces us to grapple with ; and the reading of words 
like the hearing of language, is merely the means 
employed to get at them. Hence the necessity of 
children being taught to read fluently, and with per- 
fect ease, before they leave the school ; and the neglect 
of this is the reason why so many after leaving school, 
derive so little instruction from the use of books. Of 
these individuals, experience shews, that many, who 
on leavino: school could not collect ideas bv their mode 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



63 



of mechanical reading, yet persevere, and at last 
teach themselves by long practice to understand what 
they read ; while there are not a few who, in similar 
circumstances, become discouraged, abandon the prac- 
tice of reading, and soon forget the art altogether. 

Of the correctness of these facts, every one may 
be convinced, by recollecting what must often have 
taken place with himself. When at any time the 
mind is exhausted while reading, we continue to read 
on, page after page, and when we have finished, we 
find, that not a single truth has made its way to the 
memory. Now this did not arise from any difficulty 
in comprehending the ideas in the book, because it 
does not make much diff*erence whether the subject 
has been simple or otherwise; neither did it arise 
from the want of all mental activity, for the mind 
was so much engaged as to read every word and 
every letter in the pages upon which we were occupied. 
But it arose entirely from the want of that principle 
of which we are here speaking. The words were 
read mechanically, and the ideas were either not 
thought of, or at least they were not reiterated by 
the mind, and therefore it is that they are lost, — 
and no effort can ever again recall them. The proof 
of the accuracy of these views will still be found in 
the circumstance, that if, while the person is reading, 
this act of the reiteration of some one or more of the 
ideas be in any way forced upon him, these ideas 
thus reiterated will afterwards be remembered, al- 
though all the others are lost. 

Here then we have arrived at a principle con- 
nected with the acquisition of knowledge, by attend- 
ing to which education may be made most efficient 
for that purpose ; but without which, education must 
remain a mere mechanical routine of barren exercises. 
No idea, no truth, we have seen, can ever form part 
of our knowledge, till it has undergone this parti- 
cular mental process, which we have called " reitera- 
tion." If the idea, or truth, intended to be com- 



61* PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

municated, be reiterated by the mind, — thought over 
again, — it will then be remembered; — but if it be 
not reiterated by the mind, it never can. It is also 
worthy of remark, that the tenacity with which the 
memory keeps hold of any idea or truth, depends 
greatly upon the vigour of the mind at the time, and 
still more perhaps upon the frequency of its reitera- 
tion. If a child, however languid, is forced to this 
act of reiteration of an idea but once, it will be re- 
membered for a longer or a shorter time ; but if his 
mind be vigorous and lively, and more especially 
if he can be made repeatedly to reiterate the same 
idea in bis mind at intervals, he will on that account, 
retain it much more tenaciously, and will have it at 
the command of the will more readily. Hence the 
vividness with which the scenes and the circumstances 
of youth arise upon the mind, and the tenacity witli 
which the memory holds them. These scenes were 
of daily occurrence ; and the small number of re- 
markable circumstances connected with childhood 
and youth having few rivals to compete with them 
in attracting the attention, were witnessed frequent- 
ly with all the vigour and liveliness of the youthful 
mind, as yet unburdened with care. They were of 
course frequently subjected to observation, and as 
frequently reiterated by the mind, and have on these 
accounts ever since been vividly pictured by the 
imagination, and continue familiar to the memory. 
It also accounts for another circumstance of com- 
mon occurrence. For when, even in early infancy, 
any event happened which made a deeper impression 
upon the mind than usual, that simple circumstance 
will generally outlive all its neighbours, and will 
take precedence in point of distinct recollection to 
the close of life. The reason of this is, not only the 
deep impression it made upon the mind at the mo- 
ment, but principally because it had so strongly ex- 
cited the feeiino-s, that it was oftener thouo^ht of then 
and afterwards ;— in other words, this act of reitera- 



THE PHILOSOrHY OF EDUCATION. 65 

tion occurred more frequently with respect to it than 
the others, and therefore it is now better remem- 
bered. 

This is a principle then of which the Educationist 
should take advantage. For if Nature invariably 
communicates knowledge by inducing her pupils to 
exercise their own minds on the subject taught, it is 
plain that the teacher should follow the same plan. 
His pupils cannot remain mentally inactive, and yet 
learn ; neither can the mere routine of verbal exer- 
cises either cultivate the mind or increase knowledge. 
These are but the husks of education, which may 
tantalize and weaken, but which can never satisfy 
the cravings of the young mind for information. 
Their mental food must be of a perfectly different kind, 
consisting of ideas, and not of words ; and these ideas 
they must receive and concoct by the active use of 
their own powers. The teacher must no doubt select 
the food for his pupils, and prepare it for their re- 
ception, by breaking it down into morsels, suited 
to their capacities. But this is all. They must 
eat and digest it for themselves. The pupil must 
think over in his own mind, and for himself, all that 
he is either to know or remember. The ideas read 
or heard must be reiterated by himself, — thought 
over again, — if he is ever to profit by them. Without 
this, no care or pains on the part of the teacher, no 
exertion on the part of the pupil, will be of any avail. 
All the knowledge that he seems to acquire in any other 
way is repudiated by Nature; and however plausible 
the exercise may appear, it will ultimately be found 
fruitless and vain. 

CHAP. V. 

On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle 

of Individuation. 

Nature, as we have seen, has rendered it impera- 
tive that the act of reiteration should be performed 
f3 



G6 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

upon every idea before it can have an entrance into 
the mind, or be retained by the memory ; but as the 
individual cannot reiterate, or think over, all the ideas 
suggested to hira by the innumerable objects of sen- 
sation with which he is surrounded, it next becomes 
a matter of importance to ascertain the means em- 
ployed by Nature for enabling her pupils to receive 
and retain the greatest number of ideas, so that they 
shall ever afterwards remain at the command of the 
will. This she accomplishes by the operation of the 
three other principles to which we have adverted ; 
namely, " Individ uation,''or'* Abstraction,**' "Group- 
ing," or " Association,"" and " Classification," or 
" Analysis/' — We shall in this chapter attend to the 
principle of " Individuation,'" and endeavour to trace 
its nature and uses in the acquisition of knowledge 
by the young. 

The first thing in an infant that will be remarked 
by a close observer of Nature is, that while adding 
to its knowledge by observation, it always confines 
its attention to one thing at a time, till it has examin- 
ed it. Before the period when this principle becomes 
conspicuous in an infant, the eye, and the other senses 
are in a great measure inactive, so far as the mind is 
concerned ; and the first indication of the senses 
really ministering to the mind is the eye chusing an 
object, and the infant examining that object by itself, 
without allowing its attention to be distracted by any 
thing else. 

This operation takes place as soon as an infant is 
capable of observation. It fixes its eye upon an ob- 
ject, generally one that is new to it, and it continues 
to look upon it till it has collected all the information 
that this object can give, or which the limited capa- 
city of the infant will enable it to receive. Hence 
with stationary objects this information is soon ac- 
quired ; but with moveable objects, or toys, or things 
which are capable of varying, or muitiplving the ideas 
received by the child? the look is more intense? and 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 6J 

the attention is sustained without fatigue for a longer 
time. Till this information has been received, the 
child continues to look on; and if the object be re- 
moved, the eye still follows it with interest, and gives 
it up at last with reluctance. That by this concen- 
tration of its mind upon one object, the infant is add- 
ing to its knowledge, appears evident from the fact, 
that objects which have already communicated their 
stock of information, and have become familiar, are 
less heeded than those that are new or uncommon. 
Every new thing excites the curiosity of the child, 
who is not content till that curiosity be gratified. 
This has been called " the love of novelty ;" — but it 
is not the love of novelty in the very questionable 
sense in which many understand that term. On the 
contrary, it is obviously a wise provision of Nature, 
suited to the capacity and circumstances of children, 
which is to be taken advantage of, for conveying such 
crumbs and morsels of knowledge as their limited 
powers are able to receive ; and which should never 
be abused, by presenting to them an unceasing whirl 
of names and objects, — a process which fatigues the 
mind, and leaves them without any specific informa- 
tion. It is the same principle, and is to be consi- 
dered in the same light, as that which induces the 
philosopher to confine himself to the investigation of 
one phenomenon till he understands it. The infor- 
mation which the child is capable of receiving from 
each of the impressions then made is no doubt small ; 
but it is still information — knowledge. — This is what 
he is seeking ; and, at this stage of his progress, it is 
only acquired by the concentration of the powers of 
the mind upon one thing at a time. 

The effect of this principle in the infant is worthy 
of remark. — While the pupil remains under the teach- 
ing of Nature, there is no confusion, — no hurry, — no 
failure. The tasks which she prescribes for him are 
never oppresive, and are constantly performed with 
ease and with pleasure. — Although there be no se- 



68 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

lection made by the parent or teacher for the child 
to exercise his faculties upon, yet he instinctively se- 
lects for himself, without hesitation, and without mis- 
take. All the objects in a room or in a landscape are 
before him : yet he is never oppressed by their num- 
ber, nor bewildered by their variety. — His mind is 
always at ease. — Pie chooses for himself; but he 
never selects more for his special observation at one 
time than he can conveniently attend to. When the 
objects are new, his attention is restricted to one till 
it be known ; and then, but not till then, as we shall 
immediately see, he is able, and delights to employ 
himself in grouping it with others. 

In early infancy this attention to one object is pro- 
tracted and slow, till he gradually acquires sufficient 
energy of mind by practice. — Every one must have 
observed how slowly the eye of an infant of two or 
three months old moves after an object, in compari- 
son with one of ten. — But even in the latter case, when 
the glance is lively and rapid, the same principle of in- 
dividuation continues to operate. The information 
from an unknown object must still be received alone, 
and without distraction, although by that time the 
child is capable of receiving it more quickly. He is 
not now satisfied with viewing an object on one side, 
but he must view it on all sides. He endeavours 
by various means to acquire every one of the ideas 
which it is capable of communicating. His new toy 
is viewed with delight and wonder ; and his eye by 
exercise can now scan in a moment its different parts. 
— But this not enough ; he has now learned to make 
use of his other senses, and he employs them also, for 
the purpose of becoming better acquainted with the 
object which he is contemplating. His toy is seized, 
mouthed, handled, turned, looked at on all sides, till 
all the information it can communicate has been receiv- 
ed ; — and then only is it cast aside for something else, 
which is in its turn to add to his stock of knowledge. 

The circumstance to which we would especially call 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 69 

attention at present is, the singltiiess of thought ex- 
ercised upon the object, during the time tliat the 
child is amused by it. — He attends to nothing else, 
and he will look at nothing else ; and were his atten- 
tion forced from it for a moment, this is evidently 
done unwillingly ; and, when allowed, it immediately 
returns to the object. It is also worthy of notice, 
that if, while he is so engaged, v/e attempt to teach 
him something else, or in other words, to induce him 
to divide his attention upon some other new object, 
the distraction of his mind is at once apparent ; we 
perceive that it is unnatural ; and we find by experi- 
ence that he does not profit by either. Now, from 
these indications it must be evident, that any inter- 
ference with this principle of individuation in teach- 
ing anything for the first time^ must always be hurt- 
ful: — on the contrary, by attending to the principle, 
and acting upon it in the training of the young, it 
must be productive of the happiest effects. — While 
acted upon, under the guidance of Nature, its effici- 
ency and power are astonishing. It is by means of 
this principle, that the infant mind, with all its imbe- 
cility and want of developement, acquires and retains 
more real knowledge in the course of a few months, 
than is sometimes received at school afterwards during 
as many years. — Few things are more cheering in 
prospect than the knowledge of this fact ; for what 
may we not expect from the man^ when his education 
while a child shall have been improved, and approxi- 
mated to that of Nature ! 

The operation of the principle of individuation, 
is not confined to the infant, but continues to main- 
tain its place during all the after stages of life, when- 
ever any thing new and uncommon is presented as an 
object of knowledge. Every thing is new to the in- 
fant, and therefore this principle is more conspicuous 
during the early stages of education. — But it is still 
equally necessary for the child or the youth in similar 
circumstances; and Nature compels him, as it were, still 



70 PRACTICAL ENQUIKY INTO 

to concentrate the powers of his mind upon every 
new object, till he has received and become familiar 
with the information it is calculated to furnish.— 
Every one must have observed the intensity with 
which a child examines an object which he has never 
seen before, and the anxiety which he evinces to know 
all about it. — It requires a considerable effort on his 
own part? and still greater on the part of others, to 
detach his mind from the object, till it has surrender- 
ed the full amount of information which the young 
enquirer is seeking. The boy with his new drum 
will attend to nothing else if he can help it, as long 
as he has any thing to learn concerning it, and the 
noises it is capable of producing. — -And even when 
he has tired himself with beating it, he is not satisfied 
till he has explored its contents? to find out the cause 
which has created the sounds. The girl with her 
doll, in the same way, will voluntarily think of nothing 
else, as long as it can provide her with mental exer- 
cise ; that is, as long as it can add something new to her 
present stock of knowledge. And it is here worthy 
of remark, that the apparent exception in this case, 
arising from the greater length of time that a doll 
and a few other similar toys will amuse a child, is in 
reality a striking confirmation, and illustration of the 
principle of which we are speaking. — Such toys amuse 
longer, because it is longer before the variety of which 
they are capable is exhausted. — The doll is fondled, 
and scolded, and cradled, and dressed, and undressed 
in so many different ways, that the craving for new 
ideas continues for a long period to be amply grati- 
fied ; — but the effect would be quite different, were 
the very same doll placed where it could only be looked 
at. Every new movement with the toy is employed 
by Nature, for the cultivation of the mental powers, 
by reiterating the ideas thus imparted, and on 
which the imagination delights to dwell ; and also in 
receiving a knowledge of individual objects and ideas, 
which, when once known, are to form the elements of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. /I 

future groupings, and of an endless variety of in- 
formation. 

It is here of importance to recollect, that almost 
all the information received by children, is of a sen- 
sible kind. They can form little or no idea of ab- 
stract truths. The mind and the memory must be 
stored with sensible objects, — first individually, and 
then by grouping, — before the child can arrive at a 
capacity for abstraction. Nature's first object, there- 
fore, is to store the memory and imagination of the 
young with the names and images of things, which, 
as we have seen, are acquired individually, and, when 
once known, are remembered for future use. But 
those things which they have not yet seen, or felt, or 
heard, or tasted, are totally beyond their conception, 
and cannot be of any service, either in grouping, or 
classification. — Hence the great importance of allow- 
ing the young mind to act freely in acquiring new 
ideas by this principle of individuation ; as without 
this, all the lessons into which such ideas shall 
afterward be introduced, must be in a great mea- 
sure lost. Even adults can form no idea of an un- 
known object, except by compounding it of some- 
thing that they already know. And this is at least 
equa ly the case with children ; who, till they can 
group and compare objects which they have seen, can 
reahze no idea of any thing, however simple, that has 
not previously been subjected to the senses. — HencC) 
therefore, the importance at this period of a child's 
education, of con^ning the attention chiefly to sensi- 
ble objects, and of not confounding his faculties, by 
too early an introduction of abstract ideas. 

Here then we have been able to detect the method 
by which Nature selects, and enables her pupils to 
prepare the materials of which their future knowledge 
is to be compounded. These materials are the ideas 
of sensible objects, and their properties and uses ; 
which must be gathered and stored one by one. By 
inducing them to attempt to seize even two at a time, 
thev will most probably lose both, and their powers 



72 PRACTICAL EMftUIRY INTO 

of collecting and storing will, by the same attempt, 
be injured and weakened. It is by means of this 
principle of individuation, that, with the most intense 
craving for information, and while placed among in- 
numerable objects calculated to gratify it? the infant 
and the child remain perfectly collected, without the 
slightest appearance of distraction of mind, or confu- 
sion of ideas. With his thirst of knowledge ardent 
and constant, it enables him with the greatest delight 
to add hourly to his stores of knowledge, without 
difficulty, without irritation, and without fatigue. 

The application of these truths to the business of 
education, we shall attend to in its proper place ; in 
the meantime we may remark, of how much impor- 
tance it is, that all knowledge communicated to the 
young be simple, and that for some time it consist 
chiefly of sensible objects, and their qualities ; — ob- 
jects which they either know, or can have access to. 
Abstract subjects are not suited for children, till they 
can group, and classify, and compare the sensible ob- 
jects with which they are already acquainted. The 
aim of the teacher, therefore, ought to be, strictly to 
follow Nature in tlrls early stage of her operations, 
and to furnish food for his pupils, of the proper kind, 
and in proper proportions ; — keeping the thinking 
powers constantly in healthful exercise, by giving as 
many ideas as the mind can reiterate v/ithout fatigue ; 
but carefully avoiding all hurry or force, seeing that 
the powers of the mind are greatly weakened and in- 
jured by a multiplicity of objects, particularly when 
they are presented so rapidly, that the thoughts have 
not time to settle upon them, nor the mind to reite- 
rate the ideas which they suggest. 

CHAP. VI. 

On the Application of Knowledge by the Principle 
of Association, or Grouping. 

Another principle which exhibits itself in the ac- 
quisition of knowledge by Nature's pupils, is that 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, ^3 

of '' grouping,"" or associating objects together, after 
they are individually known. A child, or even an 
infant, who is frightened, or alarmed, or who suffers 
any severe injury, remembers the several circumstan- 
ces, and has the place, the persons, and the things 
connected with the event? all associated together, and 
grouped into one scene or picture on the memorv. 
These objects may have been numerous ; but by the 
operation of this principle, they have all been appre- 
hended> and united so powerfully with each other, 
that no future effort of the child can either separate 
or obliterate any portion of them ; and so compre- 
hensive, that the recollection of any one of the cir- 
cumstances instantly recals all the others. 

These groupings in the mind of a child, formed 
chiefly by means of the imagination, are almost 
wholly compounded of sensible objects ; and the only 
necessary prerequisite for their formation appears to 
be a knowledge of the individual elements of which 
they are to be composed. If an unknown object be 
presented to the mind in connection with the others 
that are known, it is generally excluded, and the 
things previously known retained. For example, in 
the case supposed above, of an accident occurring to 
a child, there would be thousands of objects present, 
and all cognisable by the senses ; bu^ not one of 
all these that were unknown, that is, that had not 
previously undergone the process of individuation, is 
found to form part of the remembered group. 

There is another circumstance connected with the 
operation of this principle in the young, which is of 
importance. Almost the whole of a child's know- 
ledge is composed of these groupings. Before the 
developement of the reasoning powers, by which the 
individual is enabled to classify the elements of his 
knowledge, there is no way of remembering these 
elements in connection with each other, except by 
this principle. If, therefore, we change the order 
or relative position of the elements or objects which 

G 



74 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

compose the scencj or group, we draw the attention 
of the pupil altogether from the former, and create 
another which is entirely new ; — in the same way as 
the transposition of the figures in any sum, forms 
another of an entirely different amount. The draw- 
ing-room, for example? is seen by the children of the 
family with the fire-place, the cabinet, the sofas, the 
tables, and other stationary ornaments, in certain 
relative positions, and this grouping of those objects 
is to them in reality all that they know of the room. 
Any material change in shifting these objects to other 
places in the apartment? would, to the parenU whose 
judgment is ripened, produce feelings comparatively 
slight ; but, to the younger branches of the family 
who group, but cannot as yet classify, it would ap> 
pear like the complete annihilation of the former 
apartment. The different arrangement of a few of 
the articles only, would to them create another, and 
an entirely different room. 

This leads us to observe another circumstance 
connected with the operation of this principle, in the 
instruction of the young, which is the remarkable 
fact, that, by making the child familiar with a very 
few primitive elements, a parent or teacher may com- 
municate an almost infinite variety of groupings, or 
stories, for cultivating the mind, and increasing the 
knowledge of his pupil. Hence it is, that hundreds 
of agreeable and useful little histories have been 
composed for children, with no other machinery than 
a mamma and her child, and the occasional introduc- 
tion of a doll or a dog, a cat or a canary bird. To 
the child, there is in these numerous groupings no 
appearance of sameness, nor want of variety ; and al- 
though so much circumscribed in their original ele- 
ments, they never fail to amuse and delight. 

The most important circumstance, however, con- 
nected with the working of this principle in the edu- 
cation of the young, appears to be the necessity of a 
previous familiarity with the individual objects, be- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. ^5 

fore the child is called upon to group them. If this 
has been attended to, the grouping of these into any 
combination will be easy and pleasant ; — but if his 
attention be called from the group, to examine exclu- 
sively even but one of its elements, the operation is 
checked, the mind becomes confused, its powers are 
weakened, and the grouping has again to commence 
under serious disadvantages. 

To illustrate this point, let us suppose a child in- 
troduced to the bustle and sports of a common fair. 
Here he sees thousands both of familiar and strange 
objects, all of which are calculated to excite his mind 
to increased attention ; andyet the child, while greatly 
amused, is still perfectly at his ease. There is not the 
slightest indication of his being incommoded by the 
numerous objects about him ; no confusion of ideas, 
no distraction of mind, no mental distress of any kind ; 
but, on the contrary, in the midst of so much to see 
and to learn, the young looker-on is not only at his 
ease, but appears to be delighted. The reason of 
this is, that he is not by any external force compelled 
to attend to all that he sees ; and Nature within 
directs him to attend to no more than he is able to 
group, or reiterate in his thoughts. We shall endea- 
vour to examine this condition of the child's mind in 
such circumstances a little more particularly. 

The child in the circumstances supposed, must 
either be a spectator in general, or an examiner in 
particular ; in other words, he must either employ 
himself with the principle of combination or group- 
ing, or with the principle of individuation, — but he 
never attempts to employ himself with both at the 
same time. If he amuses himself as an observer in 
general, he is engaged in grouping objects which are 
already familiar to him ; but while he is so engaged, 
he never directs his attention to any one unknown 
object for the purpose of examining it for the first 
time by itself. He passes over all the minute and 
unknown objects with a glance, and attends only to 



^6 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

the grouping or associating of those which are al- 
ready familiar. Nature induces him, while thus em- 
ployed, to pass by all these minute and unknown 
objects ; because, if he were to do otherwise, his ob- 
servation in general would instantly be recalled, and 
his whole attention would be monopolized by the 
object which he had resolved to examine? to the ex- 
clusion of every other for the time. This, however, 
is not what he seeks ; and he employs himself entirely 
in the grouping of things which are already known. 
His mind is left at ease, and in the possession of all 
its powers ; he looks only at those things which 
please him ; and he passes over all the others without 
effort or difficulry. 

But if the boy shall come to something strange and 
new, which he is desirous of studying more closely, 
he immediately becomes an examiner in particular ; 
but, at the same moment, he ceases to be an observer 
in general. The extended business of the fair, and 
the several groupings of which it is composed, are 
lost sight of for the moment ; — the principle of indivi- 
duation begins to act, and the operation of the princi- 
ple of association? or grouping, is at the same moment 
brought to a stand. The two are incompatible, and 
cannot act together ; and therefore Nature never 
allows the one to interfere with the other. 

To shew the evil effects of overlooking this im- 
portant law of Nature in the education of a child, 
we have only to attend to the painful results which 
would be the consequence of acting contrary to it, 
even in the vigorous mind of an adult. Let us for 
this purpose suppose a person of a powerful under- 
standing, and a capacious mind, ushered for the first 
time, and for only five minutes into a crowded a- 
partment in some eastern caravansary, or eastern 
bazaar, in which every thing to him was new and. 
strange ; and let us also suppose that it was impera- 
tively demanded of him, that he should, in that short 
space of time, make himself acquainted with all that was 



THE PHILOSOrHY OF EDUCATIOX. 77 

going on, and be able, on his retiring, minutely to 
describe all that he saw. The first moment he entered, 
and the first strange object that caught his eye, would 
convince him that the thing was impossible. If, 
without such a demand, he had been introduced into 
such a place, and had seen various groups of strange 
persons differently employed, each engaged in a man- 
ner altogether new to him, and the nature of which 
was wholly unknown, he might look on with perfect 
composure, and considerable amusement, because he 
could attend, like the boy in the fair, either to the ge- 
neral mass, to isolated groups, or to individual things. 
He would in that case attend to no more than he 
was able to understand ; and would placidly allow 
the other parts of the scene to pass without any par- 
ticular attention. But the imperative injunction here 
supposed, — this pressure from without, — this artificial 
and unnatural demand upon him, — eniirely alters the 
case. If he even attempted to make himself master 
of all the particulars of the scene in a circumscrib- 
ed portion of time, he would find himself bewil- 
dered and confounded. The very attempt to in- 
dividualize and to group so many various objects 
at the same moment, within such a limited period, 
would be enough to prostrate all the powers of his 
mind. He might perhaps be able to observe the 
persons and their costume, because varieties of per- 
sons and dresses are daily and constantly objects of 
observation, and are grouped without difficulty ; 
but of their several employments, of which he was 
previously ignorant, he could know nothing, and on 
retiring, he would neither be able to remember nor 
to describe them. In such an experiment, it would 
be found, that the more anxious he was to perfect 
his task and to answer the demand, in the same pro- 
portion would he find himself harrassed and distress- 
ed, and the powers of his mind overstretched and 
weakened. And if this would be the result of con- 
founding the principles of individuation and group- 
g3 



78 I'llACTICAL EXQUIRY INTO 

ing in an adult, — a person of good understanding, and 
of vigorous mind, — how much more hurtful must such 
a task be, when demanded from children or youths 
of ordinary capacity, during their attendance at 
school ! 

Few we believe will doubt the general accuracy of 
the above results in the cases supposed ; — but some 
may perhaps question, whether they really do arise 
from the interference of these two antagonist princi- 
ples during the experiment. To shew that this is 
the real cause of the distress felt, and the weakness 
and prostration of mind produced during it, we have 
only to institute another experiment which is exactly 
parallel. Let us suppose the same person, and for 
the same limited period, ushered into the traveller's 
room in a well frequented hotel, and let us also sup- 
pose, that the very same demand is made imperative, 
that he shall observe, and again detail when he retires, 
all that he sees. Let us also suppose, that the number 
of persons here is equally great, and that their employ- 
ments are all equally diversified, but that each is fami- 
liar to him ; and we will at once see that the difficulty of 
the task is really as nothing. A child could accomplish 
it. His eye would be able to group the whole in an 
instant, without effort, and without fatigue. If he 
saw one party at supper, another at tea, another 
group at cards, and others amusing themselves at 
draughts and backgammon ; one minute instead of 
five, would be quite enough to make him master of 
the whole. On retiring, he would be able to tell the 
employment of every group in the room ; and if any 
of his acquaintances had made part of the num- 
ber, he would be able to tell who they were, where 
they were sitting, and how they were occupied. In 
doing all this he would find no difficulty ; and yet 
the knowledge he has received is eniirely new, and 
so extensive, that it would take at least ten fold more 
time to rehearse it, than it took to acquire it. The 
entire scene also would be permanently imprinted by 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. Jd 

the imagination upon the memory ; and the whole, 
or any part of it, could be recalled, and reviewed, 
and rehearsed, at any future period. Here then are 
two cases, precisely similar in their nature, and un- 
dertaken by the very same person, where the results 
are widely different ; and we now see, that the differ- 
ence arises entirely from the principle of individua- 
tion having prepai*ed the way in the one case, while 
it was not allowed to operate in the other. 

From these circumstances taken together, we per- 
ceive, that the grouping of objects, when once they 
are individually familiar, is never a difficult task, but 
is rather one of gratification and pleasure ; — and we 
also are taught, that the amount of knowledge thus 
pleasantly communicated to a child may be most ex- 
tensive and valuable, while the materials necessary 
for the purpose, being comparatively few, may be 
previously rendered familiar with very little exertion. 
It is the confounding of these two principles in the 
communication of knowledge, that makes learning ap- 
pear so forbidding to the young, and prevents that 
cultivation of the mental powers by their exercises 
which these would otherwise infallibly produce. By 
keeping each in its proper place, a child will soon 
acquire a thorough knowledge of the few elements 
necessary for the purpose; and these, when acquired, 
may be grouped by the teacher into thousands of 
forms, for extending the knowledge, and for invigo- 
rating the mind of his delighted pupil. 

The benevolence and wisdom of this beautiful ar- 
rangement in the educational process of Nature, are 
truly wonderful ; and in proportion as it is so, every 
deviation from it on our parts will be attended with 
disappointment and evil. If all our ideas were to be 
acquired and retained by the principle of individua- 
tion alone, the memory being without help or restin or 
place, would soon become so overpowered by their 
number, that our knowledge would be greatly cir- 
cumscribed, and its use impeded. Of the benefits 



80 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

arising from attention to the principle we have many 
apt illustrations in ordinary life, among which the 
various groupings of the ten numeral figures into 
sums of any amount, and the forming of so many 
thousands of words by a different arrangement of the 
letters of the alphabet, are familiar examples. When 
a child knows the ten numerals, he requires no more 
teaching to ascertain the precise amount of any one 
number among all the millions which these figures 
can represent. The value of such an acquirement 
can only be appreciated by considering the labour it 
would cost a child to gain a knowledge of all these 
sums individually, and the overwhelming burden laid 
upon his memory if each of the millions of sums 
had to be remembered by a separate character. By 
the knowledge and various groupings of only ten 
such characters, the whole of this mighty burden is 
removed. 

In the art of writing, the same principle is brought 
into operation with complete success, by the combina- 
tion, or various groupings of the twenty-six letters of 
the common Roman alphabet in the formation of 
words. The value of this adaptation of the principle 
will be obvious, if we shall suppose, that a person who is 
acquainted with all the modern European languages, 
had been compelled to discriminate, and continue to 
remember, a distinct arbitrary mark or character for 
the many thousands of words contained in each. We 
may not be warranted, perhaps, to say that such a 
task would be impossible ; but that it would be in- 
conceivably burdensome can admit of no doubt. We 
have, indeed? in the writings of the Chinese, although 
it is but one language, a living monument of the 
evil effects of the neglect of this principle in lite- 
rature, and the unceasing inconveniences which daily 
arise from that empire continuing to persevere in it. 
There is comparatively but little combination of cha- 
racters in their words, and the consequences are remark- 
able. In that extensive empire, the highest rewards. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 81 

and the chief posts of honour and emolument, are held 
out to those who are most learned, whatever be their 
rank or their station ; and yet, amidst a population 
immersed in poverty and wretchedness, not one per- 
son in a thousand can master even one of their books ; 
and not one in ten thousand of those who profess to 
read, is able to peruse them all. The reason of this 
simplv is, the neglect of this natural principle of 
grouping letters, or the signs of sounds, in their writ- 
ten lanffuao;e. With us> the elements of all the words 
in all the European languages are only twenty- six ; 
and the child who has once mastered the combination 
of these, in any one of our books, has the whole of 
our literature at his command. 

The application of this principle to the elements 
of general knowledge is equally necessary, as its ap- 
plication to written language. The difficulty of re- 
membering the many thousands of unconnected cha- 
racters in Chinese literature, is an exact emblem of 
what will always be the case with children in respect 
to their general knowledge, when this principle of 
association, or grouping, is neglected. Adults ac- 
quire and retain a large portion of their knowledge, 
as we shall afterwards see, by the principle of classi- 
fication and analysis ; but children are not as yet cap- 
able of this ; and they must receive their knowledge 
by the grouping of a few simple elements previously 
known, or they will not be able to receive and retain 
knowledge at all. The amount of this knowledo-e 
also? it should be kept in mind, is not at all in pro- 
portion to the number or the variety of the elements 
of which that knowledge is composed. We have 
formerly alluded to this, and it may be farther illus- 
trated by a circumstance of daily occurrence. A sea- 
man when he observes a vessel at a distance knows 
her class and character in an instant, whether she be 
a sloop or a brig, a schooner or a ship, and he forms 
an instantaneous idea of all her parts grouped into a 
whole. His memory, instead of being harrassed in 



82 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

remembering the shape, and place, and position of 
each of its several parts, is relieved of the whole by 
the operation of this principle of association. The 
whole rigging, about which his mind is occupied, is 
composed of only three elements, — ropes, and spars, 
and sails, — with each of which he has long ago made 
himself familiar. All the remaining parts of this 
kind of knowledge are a mere matter of grouping. 
By previously observing the varied arrangement of 
the spars, and ropes, and sails, on the several masts 
of the different kinds of vessels, he has already group- 
ed them into one whole, and each is remembered 
by itself without effort, and without mistake. They 
are retained, as it were, painted by the imagination 
upon the memory, and may at any after period be 
recalled and reviewed at pleasure. Hence the sight 
of a vessel in the distance calls up the former pictures 
to the mind, and enables the practised eye of the 
mariner to decide at once as to the kind and charac- 
ter of what he so imperfectly sees. — This helps also 
to explain the reason why children are so gratified 
with pictures when presented to the eye ; and why 
they are best pleased when the figures are most sim- 
ple and distinct, and particularly, when the objects 
grouped in the picture have previously been familiar. 
Pictures are indeed a pretty close imitation of Nature 
in this part of her work ; and the^ are defective chief- 
ly on account of their want of motion and continuity. 
These last are two great and inimitable characteristics 
in all the groupings painted upon the memory by the 
imagination. 

From all this it is obvious, that there is an essen- 
tial difference between a child's acquiring the know- 
ledge of things individually, and acquiring a know- 
ledge of their several associations. The two must 
never, if possible, be confounded with each other. 
When they are kept distinct in the education of a 
child, he has an evident pleasure in attending to either ; 
but as soon as they are allowed to interfere, and more 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 83 

especially when they are systematically blended to- 
gether in the same exercise, he experiences confusion, 
irritation, and fatigue. There is no necessity, how- 
ever, for this ever being the case. All that is required 
is, that the few individual elements that are to be 
grouped or associated in a lesson? whether they be 
objects or ideas, shall previously be made familiar to 
the pupil. These, when once known, may be brought 
before the mind of the child in any variety of order 
or form, and will be received readily and pleasantly, 
and will be retained by the memory without confu- 
sion, and without effort. By attention to these two 
principles, keeping each in its proper place, and bring- 
ing each to aid and uphold the other in its proper 
order, it will be found, that a child may be taught 
more real knowledge in one week, than is often com- 
municated in other circumstances in the course of a 
year. 



CHAP. VII. 

On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle 
of Analysis, or Classification. 

There is yet another principle brought into ope- 
ration by Nature to enable her pupils to receive, to 
retain, and to make use of their knowledge. This is 
the principle of Classification, or Analysis.* The 
difference between this and the former principle des- 
cribed we think is sufficiently marked. The principle 
of Association, or Grouping, is carried on chiefly by 
means of the imagination, and begins to operate as 
soon as the mind is capable of imagining any thing ; 
but the principle of Classification, or Analysis, is 
more intimately connected with the judgment. The 
consequence of this is, that it is but very partially 

• Note E. 



84 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

called into action during the early stages of a child^s 
education, and is never able to operate with vigour, 
till the reasoning powers of the pupil begin to de- 
velope themselves. 

The characteristic differences between the two 
principles, and their respective uses in education, may 
be illustrated by a circumstance of every-day occur- 
rence. For example, a child who from infancy has 
been brought up in a house of several apartments, 
gets acquainted with each of the rooms by means of 
its contents. He has been in the habit of seeing the 
heavy pieces of furniture in each apartment in a cer- 
tain place and order, and the room and its furniture, 
therefore, are identified together, and remain painted 
upon his imagination exactly as he has been in the 
habit of seeing them. In this case, the articles of 
furniture in the room are grouped, and not classified ; 
and are remembered together, not on account of their 
nature and uses, but purely on account of their posi- 
tion, and their relative arrangement in the room. 
Most of our readers perhaps, will remember the 
strange feelings produced in their minds during 
some period of their childhood, when in the house of 
their infancy, some material alteration of this kind 
was effected in one or more of the rooms. A change 
in the position of a bed, or the abstraction or intro- 
duction of a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, or other 
bulky piece of furniture, causes in the mind of the 
child an effect much deeper, and more extensive, than 
in the adult. The former picture of the place never 
having been observed or contemplated in any other 
aspect, is painted by the imagination, and fixed upon 
his memory, by long continued familiarity. But by 
this change it is suddenly defaced ; and the new 
group, partaking as it will do of some of the elements 
of the old, produces feelings which are strange and 
unaccountable, and entirely different from those of 
his parents, who have been in the habit of contem- 
plating the room and its furniture more by the exer- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 85 

cise of the judgment, than of the imagination; that 
is, more by their uses, than by their appearance. 

The cause of this strangeness of feeling in a child, 
arises from the predominance of the principle of 
grouping, over that of classification. He has as yet 
no knowledge of any of the apartments in the house, 
except what he has received by grouping their con- 
tents. When, therefore, their arrangement is mate- 
rially altered, the reasoning powers not being as yet 
able to soften down the effect, the former apartment 
appears to the child as if it had ceased to exist. He 
can scarcely believe it to be the same. He never 
thinks of the uses of the articles in the apartment, 
but only of their appearance ; — the first being an act 
of the judgment, — the latter of the imagination. In 
a similar manner bethinks of the kitchen and its fur- 
niture, not as a part of the household economy, but 
only in connection with the articles it contains. The 
dresser, the jack, and the tin covers, are never thought 
of in connection with their uses ; but are identified 
with the kitchen, merely because they have always 
been seen there, and seen together. In like manner, 
the seats, the tables, and the ornaments of the draw- 
ing-room, are not connected in the child's mind be- 
cause they are what are commonly called " drawing- 
ing-room furniture," for that would imply a degree of 
reasoning of which he is as yet unacquainted ; but they 
are remembered together, as they have always been 
observed in that particular place, and are now pic- 
tured on the mind, in the position in which they are 
usually beheld. Their particular locality in the 
room, and their relative position with respect to each 
other, are of far more importance in assisting the 
memory of the child, than any knowledge which he 
has as yet acquired of their respective uses. 

Though a child had in this way gained an exact 
knowledge of every apartment in a house, it is obvious 
that there may not have been, during the whole pro^ 
cess, a single act of the understanding. Many of the 

H 



86 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

lower animals are capable of collecting all the know- 
ledge he has received ; and even infants are, to a cer- 
tain extent, in the daily habit of acquiring it. But 
the classification of objects, according to their nature 
and uses, is an operation of a perfectly different kind. 
Hence it is, that a change in the arrangement of the 
furniture of a room acts so slightly on the feelings of 
the adult, and so powerfully on the young. In the 
former, the reasoning powers neutralize the effect 
produced ; to the latter, the change appears a com- 
plete revolution. 

This principle of classification, though peculiar to 
the mature mind, is not restricted to any particular 
class of men. It is found to be universal, wherever 
the reasoning powers are capable of acting. It is no 
doubt conspicuous in civilized societies, because there 
it is more cultivated ; but it is not confined to them. 
The savage is prompted to its exercise under the 
tuition of Nature. For example, the various articles 
and arts which he employs in hunting, are all regu- 
larly classified in his mind? and retained upon his 
memory, as perfectly distinct from those which he em- 
ploys in fishing ; and neither of these classes of ar- 
ticles are ever confounded with his implements and 
weapons of war. His hooks and lines, are as natural- 
ly classified in his mind with his nets and his canoe, 
as his club or his tomahawk is with his other weapons 
used in battle. It is by this means that Nature aids 
the memory in the retention of knowledge, and keeps 
all the successive accumulations of the individual at 
the command of the v/ill. When cultivated, as Na- 
ture designs that it should be, it forms an extensive 
cabinet in the mind, where every department of know- 
ledge has its appropriate place ; and which, when once 
systematically formed, can be furnished at leisure. 
When a new idea is acquired, it is immediately put 
in its place, and associated with others of the same 
kind ; and when any portion of the knowledge which 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. SJ 

we have accumulated is required, we know at once 
the particular place where it is to be found. 

The benefits of this principle in the above form 
are extensively felt and acted upon in society, even 
where the principle itself is neither observed nor 
known ; for in the family, in the work shop, and in 
the manufactory, it is of the last importance. It is 
upon this principle that a clergyman, for the help of 
his own memory, as well as for assisting the memory of 
his hearers, arranges the subject of his sermons in a 
classified form ; — his text is the root of the classifica- 
tion. This he divides into heads, which form the 
first branch in this table ; and these again he some- 
times sub-divides into particulars, which form a second 
branch depending on the first, and all proceeding 
from the root, — the original text. Similar, but more 
extensive, is the plan adopted in the divisions and sub- 
divisions of objects in the Sciences, such as Botany, 
Zoology, Chemistry, &c. in all of which the existence 
of this principle in Nature's educational process is 
acknowledged and exemplified. In these sciences, the 
efficiency of the principle in facilitating the reception 
of knowledge, and in assisting the memory in retain- 
ing it, and in putting it to use, is universally acknow- 
ledged. 

But there is another form in which the same prin- 
ciple appears, not so obvious indeed, but it is one 
wliich is at least equally important in the education 
of the young. Nature always brings it into opera- 
tion when a teacher, while communicating any series 
of connected truths, such as a portion of history or 
of science, gives more of the details than the mind 
of his pupil can receive, or his memory retain at one 
time. It may be desirable that the pupil should be 
made thoroughly acquainted with all the minute, as 
well as with the general circumstances of a history or 
a science ; but if so, it must be done, not at once, 
but by degrees, or steps. It is usually done by re- 
peating the course, — " revising,*" as it is called, — and 



538 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

that perhaps more than once ; — going over all the 
exercises again and again, till the several parts are 
perceived and remembered in their connection. In 
these " revisings," the mind forms an analytical table 
of the subject for itself, consisting of successive steps, 
formed by the successive courses. By the first course, 
or hearing, it is chiefly the great outlines of the sub- 
ject that are perceived ; and these form the first branch 
of a regular analytical table, which every succeeding 
course of reading or hearing tends to fill up. This 
will perhaps be best understood by an example. 

Let us suppose that a young person sits down to 
read a history for the first time, and that he reads it 
with attention and care. When we examine the state 
of his mind after he has finished it, we find that, inde- 
pendently of what, by the principle of grouping, he 
has got in the form of episode, he has been able to 
retain only the great outlines of the history, and no 
more. He remembers perhaps of whose reign he has 
been reading, and the principal events that took place 
during it ; but the intermediate and minor events, as 
connected with the history, he has not been able to 
remember. Nothing has been imparted by this first 
reading, but the great land-marks of the narrative. 
These are destined to form the first branch of a regular 
analytical table, of which the reign of the particular 
monarch is the root. This is the frame- work of the 
whole history of that period, however numerous the mi- 
nor circumstances may be ; and a second reading will 
only enlarge his knowledge of the circumstances under 
each of the heads. In other words, it will enable 
him to sub-divide them into more minute details or 
periods, and thus form a series of second branches 
from each. Now it is quite obvious, that when this 
analysis of the circumstances of that period is once 
formed in the mind, no new event connected with it 
can ever come to his knowledge without being classed 
with some of the others. It will be disposed of ac- 
cording to the relation which it bears to the parts 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 89 

already existing ; and thus the whole texture will be 
regularly framed, and every event will have its pro- 
per place, and be readily available for future use. 
One part may be filled up and finished before ano- 
ther ; but the regular proportions of the whole re- 
main undisturbed. The pupil has, by the original 
outline and its several branches, got a date and a 
place for every new fact which he may afterwards 
glean, either in his reading or his conversation ; and he 
has a place in which to put it, where it can easily be 
found. When placed there, it is safe in the keep- 
ing of the memory, and will always afterwards be at 
the command of the will. 

The connection of these circumstances, with the 
principle in education wdiich we are at present en- 
deavouring to illustrate, may not to some be very 
apparent. We shall therefore take another example 
from a circumstance similar to wdiat occurs every day 
in ordinary life, and in which the principle, in the hands 
of Nature, is abundantly conspicuous. In the example 
w^e are here to give, she forms the several steps of the 
classification in a number of hearers by once reading a 
subject, ver}^ similar to what she does successively in 
the mind of one individual by repeated readings. 

Let us then suppose a teacher with two or three 
hundred pupils, including every degree of mental 
capacity, from the youngest child who is able to un- 
derstand, up to his ow^n classical assistant ; and that 
he reads to them the history of Joseph as given in the 
Book of Genesis. Let us also suppose, that they all 
give him their best attention, and that they all hear 
the narrative for the first time. Such an experiment, 
let it be observed, has its parallel every day, in the 
church, in the class room, and in the seminary ; and 
similar eifects to those we are about to describe in- 
variably take place in each of them. 

When the teacher has read and concluded this 
lengthened exercise, it w-ill be found, that no two in- 
dividuals among his hearers have acquired the same 
h3 



90 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

amount of knowledge. Some will have received and 
retained more of the circumstances, and some less, 
but no two, strictly speaking, will be ahke. Those 
whose minds were incapable of connecting the several 
parts of the narrative into a whole, will retain what 
they have received in disjointed groups and patches, — • 
episodes, as it were, in the narrative, — without being 
able very clearly to perceive its general design. This 
class, upon whom the principle of association chiefly 
has been at work, we leave out, and confine ourselves 
to the state of knowledge possessed by those who are 
in a greater or less degree capable of classification, 
and of taking some cognisance of the narrative as a 
connected whole. 

Among this latter class, some will have retained no 
more than the bare outline of the history, interspers- 
ed with groupings, as in the younger children. They 
will remember little more than that Joseph was at first 
a boy in his father's house ; — that he was afterwards 
a slave, and in prison ; — and at last, a great man and 
a governor. Here the whole history is divided into 
three distinct heads, or eras, — the first branch of an 
analytical table of the whole story, from one or other 
of which all the other particulars, of whatever kind, 
must of necessity take their rise, and branch off in their 
natural order. An advanced class of the auditors 
will have retained some of the more obvious circum- 
stances connected with each of these three great divi- 
sionSi as well as the divisions themselves. 1'hey will 
not only remember that Joseph was a boy in his father's 
house, but they will also be able to remember the more 
prominent subdivisions of the narrative regarding him 
while there ; such as his father's partiality, his dreams, 
and his brothers'* hatred. The second great division 
will be recollected as including the particulars of his 
being sold, his serving in Potiphar's house, and his 
conduct in prison ; and the third division will be re- 
membered as containing his appearance before Pha- 
roah> his laying up corn, his conduct to his brothers. 



thp: philosophy of education, 91 

and his reception of his father and family. These 
subdivisions, it will at once be perceived, form the 
second brarich of a regular analytical table, each of 
which has sprung from, and is intimately connected 
with, some one or other of the three great divisions 
forming the first branch, of which the " History of 
Joseph"*** is the comprehensive root. 

In like manner, a third class of the pupils, whose 
minds have been better cultivated, and whose memo- 
ries are more retentive, will not only remember all 
this, but they will also remember, in connection with 
each of these subdivisions, many of the more specific 
events included in, or springing from them, and 
which carry forward this regular analytical table one 
step farther. As for example, under the subdivision 
entitled " Joseph's conduct to his brethren,'" they 
will remember the *' detention of Simeon," — '* the 
feast in the palace,'' — '' the scene of the cup in the 
sack,'*'' and '* Joseph's making himself known.''' Even 
these again might be subdivided into their more mi- 
nute circumstances, as a fourth, or even a fifth branch, 
if necessary, all of which might be exactly delineated 
upon paper, as a regular analytical table of the his- 
tory of Joseph. 

Here, then, we have an example of Nature herself 
dividing an audience into different classes, and that 
by one and the same operation, — by one reading, — 
forming in each class part of a regular analytical ta- 
ble of the whole history, each class being one step in 
advance of the other. The first has the foundation 
of the whole fabric broadly and solidly laid ; and it 
is worthy of remark, that there is not one of the 
ideas acquired by the most talented of the hearers^ 
that is not strictly and regularly derived from some 
one or other of the three general divisions possessed 
by the first and the least advanced ; and any one of 
these ideas may be regularly traced back through 
the several divisions to the root itself. The addi- 
tional facts possessed by the second clas?*, are nothing 



92 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

more than a more full developement of the circum- 
stances remembered by the first ; and those obtained 
by the third, are but a more extensive developement 
of the facts remembered by the second. 

This being the state of the several classes into 
which Nature divides every audience, it is of impor- 
tance to trace the means which she employs for the 
purpose of advaiicing each, and of ultimately com- 
pleting the analysis ; or, in other words, perfecting 
the knowledge of the narrative, in each individual 
mind. This is equally beautiful, and equally sim- 
ple. It is, if we may be allowed the expression, by 
a regular system of building. The foundation being 
laid, and the frame-work of the whole being erected, 
in the knowledge of the great general outline, confu- 
sion is ever after completely prevented. Every piece 
of information connected with the history, which may 
be afterwards received, has a specific place provided 
for it. It must belong to some one or other of the 
three great divisions ; and it is there inserted as a 
part of the general building. It is now remembered 
in its connection, till all the circumstances, — the 
whole of the information, — gradually, and perhaps 
distantly received, complete the narrative. 

To follow out this plan of Nature regularly, as 
in a school education, the method must be exceed- 
ingly obvious ; for if the first class, by once hearing 
the chapters read, have received merely the outline, 
— the frame-work of the narrative, — it must be ob- 
vious, that when this has by reflection become fa- 
miliar, a second reading would enable them to fill 
up much of this outline, by which they would be 
on a par with the second. Another reading would, 
in like manner, add to the second, and form a third ; 
and so forth of all the others. Each reading would 
add more and more to the knowledge of the pu- 
pil ; and yet, every idea communicated would be 
nothing more than a fuller developement of the 
original outlincj — the frame-work, — the skeleton of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 93 

the story which he had acquired by the first reading. 
By successive readings, therefore, the first class will 
take the place of the second, the second of the third, 
and so on to the end. This is Nature's uniform me- 
thod of perfecting her pupils in any branch of con- 
nected knowledge ; — a method which, therefore, it 
should be the object of the Educationist to under- 
stand, and closely to imitate. 

From the cases which we have in this chapter sup- 
posed as examples, there are several important prac- 
tical inferences to be derived, to which we shall here 
very briefly advert. 

In the first place, we are led to infer, from all the 
cases brought into notice, that every kind of external 
force, or precipitation in education, is abhorrent to 
Nature. In each of the cases supposed, we have a 
remarkable exhibition of the calm serenity of Na- 
ture's operations in the education of the young. 
For instance, in the last case supposed, the children 
all listened, — they all heard the same words, — the 
mental food was the same to each, however diversified 
their abilities might be; and it was indiscriminately 
offered in the same form to all, although all were 
not equally prepared to receive and digest it. The 
results accordingly were, in fact, as various as the 
number of the persons present. And yet, notwith- 
standing of all this, there was no hurry, no confusion, 
no attempt to stretch the mind beyond its strength. 
Each individual, according to his capacity, laid hold 
of as much as his mind could receive, and silently 
abandoned the remainder. — But if there had been 
any external urgency or force employed, to compel 
the child to accomplish more than his mind was ca- 
pable of, this serenity and composure would have 
been destroyed ; irritation, and confusion, and men- 
tal weakness, would have been the consequence ; and 
altogether, matters would not have been made better, 
but worse, by the attempt. 

Another inference, which we think may legitimate- 



94 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY IKTO 

ly be drawn from the above examples, is this, that 
although Nature prompts the child silently to throw 
off or reject that which the mind at the time cannot 
receive, yet it would be better for the child if no 
more had been pressed upon him than he was capa- 
ble of receiving. The very rejection of any portion 
of the mental food presented for acceptance, must in 
some measure tend to dissipate the mind, and exhaust 
its strength. This we think is demonstrated by 
the fact, that the child had to listen for an hour, and 
yet retained on his memory no more than experience 
shews us could have been much more successfully 
communicated in Jive minutes. 

This leads us to another remark, almost equally im- 
portant; which is, that the want of classification among 
the children, will not only hurt them, but tend to 
waste the time, and unnecessarily to exhaust the 
strength of the teacher. The teacher's success with 
any one child? is not to be estimated by the pains he 
takes, or the extent of his labour, but by the amount 
of knowledge actually retained by the child. To 
employ an hour's labour, therefore, to communicate 
that knowledge which could with much better effect 
be given in five minutes, is both unreasonable and 
improper ; and every one who will for a moment 
think on the subject must see, that a lesson, which 
in that short space of time conveyed the whole of the 
knowledge that the pupils had been able to pick up 
during the hour's exercise, would leave the teacher 
eleven-twelfths of his time to benefit the other classes. 
The nurseryman follows this plan with his trees, 
and with evident success, both in saving time, and 
room, and labour. When he sows his acorns, one 
square yard will contain more plants than will ulti- 
mately occupy an acre. It is only as they increase 
in growth, that they are thinned out and transplanted ; 
and such should be the case in communicating know- 
ledge to children. To attempt to teach the whole 
history at once, is like sowing the whole acre with 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 95 

acorns, and thinning them out during a quarter of a 
century. The loss of seed in this case is the least of 
the evils ; for the ground would be robbed of its 
strength, nine-tenths of it would be rendered unneces- 
sarily useless during a large portion of the time ; and 
much of the anxiety, and care, and labour of the 
nurseryman would be thrown away. Ultimately he 
would find, that of the many thousands of oaks he 
had sowed, he had been able to rear no more than 
the acre coidd carry. By following out this princi- 
ple in education, and giving the child as much as he 
can receive, and no more, of the whole series of truths 
to be communicated, his mind, at the close of the 
exercise, will be much more vigorous, the ideas re- 
ceived will be much better understood, more firmly 
rivetted upon the memory, and much more at the 
command of the will, while the quantity of knowledge 
really communicated, is at least equal in amount. — 
The only thing indeed that renders a contrary plan 
of procedure even tolerable to a child, is the wise 
provision of Nature, by which she induces him to 
throw off, with some degree of ease, the superfluous 
matter ; but had the reception and retention of the 
whole by each child been demanded by the teacher, 
the very attempt to do so on the part of the pupil, would 
not only have been irritating and burdensome, but it 
would have been extremely hurtful to the mind, by 
stretching its powers beyond its strength. 



CHAP. VIII. 

On Nature'^s Methods of Teaching her Pupils to 
make use of their Knowledge. 

We come now to another operation of Nature 
with the young, to which she appears to attach more 
importance than she does to any of her previous 
educational processes, and to which she obviously in- 
tends that a more than ordinary attention should be 



98 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

paid on our parts. This is the training of her pupils 
to make use of their knowledge, and to apply the in- 
formation they possess to guide them in the common 
affairs of life. This is obviously the great end which 
she has all along had in view ; and to which the cul- 
tivation of the mind, and the acquisition of know- 
ledge are merely preparatives. We shall first direct 
attention to a few of the indications of this principle 
as they actually appear in ordinary life; and then we 
shall endeavour to point out some of the laws by 
which she appears to regulate them. 

In the early periods of infancy we can plainly 
distinguish between certain actions which depend 
upon instinct, and which are performed by the infant 
perfectly and at once, without experience, and with- 
out teaching ; — and others of which the infant at 
first appears to be incapable, but which it gradually 
acquires by experience, or more correctly, which it 
learns by an application of the knowledge which it is 
daily realizing. Among the former, or instinctive 
class, we may rank the acts of sucking, swallowing, 
and crying, which are purely acts of instinct ; while 
among the numerous class belonging to the latter, 
we include all those actions which are progressively 
improved, and which are really the result of expe- 
rience, derived from the application of their acquired 
knowledge. As an example of these, we may in- 
stance the acts of winking with the eyelids on the 
approach of an object to the eye ; the avoiding of a 
blow ; the rejection of what is bitter or unpalatable ; 
the efforts made to possess that v*^hich has })een found 
pleasant; and the shunning of those acts for which 
it has been reproved or punished. All these, and 
thousands of similar acts, are really the result of a 
direct application of previous knoivledge, and which, 
without the possession of that knowledge, never are, 
nor could be performed. 

Mankind in infancy being, in the intention of Na- 
ture, placed under the care of tender and intelligent 



THE PKILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION". 97 

parents are not provided with many instinctive fa- 
culties. Their physical welfare is at first left altoge- 
ther to the care of the nurse ; but, from a very 
early period of consciousness, they intellectually 
become the pupils of Nature. Almost all their ac- 
tions are the results of experience ; — of knowledge 
acquired, and knowledge applied. Their attainments 
at the beginning are no doubt few; — but, from the 
first, they are well marked, and go on with increasing 
rapidity. The acquisition of knowledge by them, 
and especially the application of it, are evident to the 
most cursory observer. For example, we see a child 
cling to its keeper, and refuse to go to a stranger; — ^ 
we see it when hungry stretch out its arms, and cry 
to get to its nurse; — and when it has fallen in its ef- 
forts to walk, it will not for some time attempt it again. 
These, and many more which will occur to the 
reader, are the results of Nature's teaching; — her 
suggestions to her pupil for the right application of 
its knowledge. The child has been taught from ex- 
perience that it is safe and comfortable with its 
keeper, and ir. applies this knowledge by refusing to 
leave her. It has learned how, and by whom, its 
hunger is to be satisfied ; and it applies this know- 
ledge by seeking to be with its nurse. It has learned 
by experience, that the attempt to walk is dangerous; 
and it applies that knowledge by avoiding the 
danger. Here the child is wholly as yet in the hands 
of Nature ; and it is quite evident, that her design 
in first enabling the pupil to acquire those portions 
of knowledge, was, that she might induce him to ap- 
ply them for his safety and comfort. No doubt the 
mental powers of the child were cultivated and 
disciplined by the acquisition of the knowledge, 
and still more by its application ; but this dis- 
ciplining of the mind, and accumulation of know- 
ledge, were evidently a secondary oVrject, and not the 
primary one. Health and cheerfuhiess are gained 
by tilling the ground ; yet the ground is not tilled 

I 



98 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

for the purpose of securing health and cheerfulness. 
It is for the produce of the harvest. So, in like man- 
ner, the cultivation of the child's mind, and the re- 
ception of the seeds of knowledge, are merely means 
employed for a further end, — the harvest of comfort 
and usefulness to be afterwards reaped. From all 
this we are directly led to the conclusion, that it is 
the intention of Nature, that all the knowledge ac- 
quired should be put to use ; and therefore, that 
nothing should be taught the young, in the first 
place at least, except that which is really useful; 
while the proper use of all that they learn should be 
diligently pointed out. 

It may appear to some, that this truth is so plain 
and obvious, as to require no further illustration or 
enforcement. — We sincerely wish that it were so. But 
long experience justifies us in being sceptical on the 
point. And as the establishment of this principle, 
and a thorough knowledge of its working, are per- 
haps of more value than any other truth in the whole 
range of educational science, we shall offer a few re- 
marks on its validity and importance, before proceed- 
ing to examine the means by which Nature carries it 
into operation. 

That knowledge, when once acquired, is intended 
by Nature to be put to use, is proved negatively by 
the well known fact, that almost all our mental ac- 
quirements, when not used, are soon lost. They gra- 
dually fade from the mind, and are at last blotted 
from the memory. Hence the disappearance in after 
life of all the academical and collegiate acquirements 
of those youths who move in a sphere where their 
use is not required ; and of those portions of the early 
attainments of even professional men, which are not 
necessary for their particular pursuits. By the uni- 
versal operation of this principle, Nature gives fair 
warning of the folly of useless learning ; and plainly 
indicates? that whenever the benefits which she confers 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 99 

are not put to use as she designed, they will gra- 
dually, but most certainly, be withdrawn. 

The same fact is also proved positively : — For we 
find, that the proper use of any portion of our know- 
ledge, is invariably rewarded by its becoming still 
more familiar. The student who puts a principle in 
chemistry to the test of experiment, will understand 
it better, remember it longer, and be able to apply 
it to useful purposes, much more readily than his 
companion who merely reflects upon it. And of two 
individuals, who by a lecture have been taught the 
duty and the delights of mercy, that one will learn 
it best, and remember it longest, who, immediately 
on hearing it, is prompted to relieve a fellow creature 
from distress, or to save a family from ruin. 

This principle of making every thing conduce to the 
promotion of practical good, seems to pervade all the 
works of God ; and there is no department in Nature, 
mineral, vegetable, or animal, that does not afford 
proofs of its existence. Every thing that the Al- 
mighty has formed is practically useful ; and is ar- 
ranged in such a manner as to give the clearest indi- 
cations, that it was designed to be turned to some 
useful purpose by man. The annual and diurnal 
motions of the earth in its orbit ; the obliquity of 
its axis ; the inequality of its surface, and the dispo- 
sition and disruption of its strata, all shew the most 
consummate wisdom, and are severally a call to intel- 
ligent man to turn them to use. On these, and on 
every other department of Nature's works, there is 
written in legible characters, that it is the use of 
knowledge, and not the possession of it merely, that 
is recommended. This she teaches by every opera- 
tion of her hand, both directly, and by analogy. 
For could we suppose that the vegetable creation 
were capable of receiving knowledge, we might con- 
clude from various facts> that this principle was not 
confined to the animal kingdom alone, but that it 
regulated the operations of all organic existences. 



100 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

The living vegetable has at least the appearance of 
acting under its influence ; for, as if it knew that 
light was necessary for its health and growth, it in- 
variably turns towards the light ; — as if it knew that 
certain kinds of decayed matter were better fitted for 
its nourishment than others^ it pushes out new fib- 
rous roots in the direction of the spot where they are 
to be found ; — and even when isolated on a rock, or a 
wall, at a distance from sufficient soil and moisture, 
it husbands its scanty means, and sends down from 
its elevation an extra root to the ground, to collect 
additional nourishment where it is to be had. 

In every department of animal life, also, the prin- 
ciple appears to exist, and exhibits itself in the con- 
duct of all free agents, from the insect to the ele- 
phant. The dog that has been kindly treated in a 
particular house, seldom fails to visit it again ; and 
when he is violently driven from another, the same 
principle indisposes him to return. It is upon re- 
cord, that a surgeon who had bandaged the broken 
leg of a dog, was afterwards visited by his patient, 
v/ho brought another, requiring a similar operation. 
The horse, in like manner, is proverbially sagacious in 
the application of his knowledge. Mismanagement 
in a groom in one instance, may create a '* vicej'^ 
which may lessen his value during life. This " vice," 
which is confirmed by practice, is nothing more than 
the repeated application of his knowledge. Such a 
" vice," accordingly, is best cured by avoiding the 
circumstances which originally gave rise to it, till it 
dies from his memory. Many other instances of a 
similar kind in the lower animals will readily occur 
to the reader, all of which lead directly to the 
conclusion, that, even in the brute creation, Nature 
not only prompts them to collect information from 
what happens around them, and to act in correspon- 
dence to its indications ; but that, in fact, all the know- 
ledge they receive, or are capable of acquiring above 
instinct, is retained or lost, exactly in proportion as 
it is, or is not, put to use. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 101 

In the case of rational creatures, this great design 
of Nature is still more distinctly marked, — is intended 
for more important purposes^ — and is carried on by a 
separate system of internal machinery, part of which 
at least is peculiar to man. This system of mental 
machinery consists of two kinds, one of which may, 
we think, with propriety get the popular name of the 
" Animal, or Common Sense," and the other has al- 
ready received the appropriate name of " The Moral 
Sense,"*' or conscience. To Nature's method of using 
these principles, for prompting and directing us in the 
use of our knowledge, we shall now shortly advert. 



CHAP. IX. 

On Natures Methods of Applying Knowledge hy the 
Principle of the Animal, or Common Sense. 

When an infant, by laying hold of a hot tea-pot 
burns its hand, it refuses to touch it again ; — when 
a child has been frightened from a park or field, he 
will not willingly enter it a second time ; — and when 
any thing is thrown in the direction of the head, 
we instantly stoop, or bend to one side, to evade it. 
These are instances of the application of knowledge, 
by the principle of " common sense,"" which do not 
belong to instinct ; and, in many cases at least, anti- 
cipate the exercise of reason. Our object at present, 
however, is with the principle, and not with its name. 

When we analyze these operations, together with 
their causes, we find, that there are certain portions 
of knowledge daily and hourly acquired by the senses, 
which become so interwoven with our sentiments and 
feelings, that they usually remain unobserved, till 
some special occasion calls for their application. Now 
the principle we speak of, if it indeed be a separate 
principle, is employed by Nature to apply this latent 
knowledge, and to induce her pupil instantly, and 
I 3 



102 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

without waiting for the decisions of reason, to per- 
form certain actions? or to pursue a certain hne of 
conduct, which we almost instinctively feel to be 
useful and safe. No sane child, for example, will 
deliberately stand in the way of a horse or a carriage 
at full speed, — or walk over a precipice, — or take 
burning coals from the fire with his fingers ; were he 
to do so, we would not dignify the act so far as to 
say that it was " unreasonable,'' for that would be 
too mild an epithet, — but we would pronounce it at 
once to be " contrary to common sense."*' 

In like manner, were an adult to bemire himself in 
crossing a ditch, instead of making use of the stepping- 
stones placed there for the purpose; or if he were to 
stand till he were drenched with a thunder- shower, 
instead of taking shelter for the time in the neighbour- 
ing shed, we would not say that it was '' unreason- 
able,"*' but that it was ^' contrary to common sense.'"* 
In short, whenever any thing is done which uni- 
versal experience shews to be hurtful to oursehes^ 
(not to others) it is invariably denominated an act 
«« contrary to common sense;" but whenever it in- 
volves hurt to others, it takes another character, and 
becomes a breach of the " moral sense."" 

It is not our design, however, to come out of our 
way at present, to adapt the name to the princi- 
pie in Nature of which we are here speaking, and 
far less shall we attempt to mould the principle into 
a form suitable to the name. Our business is with 
the principle itself, as it appears in ourselves and 
others ; and we use the term " common sense," mere- 
ly because at present we cannot find one more appro- 
priate, or which would suit our purpose so well. If 
this name shall be found proper for it, it is well ; — 
but if not, we leave it to others to provide a better. 

We have said, that Nature prompts to the use of 
knowledge by means of two distinct principles; the 
one, which may be denominated the " Animal," or 
** Common Sense," refers to actions of which we our- 



THE rillLOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 103 

selves are the subjects; and the other, known by the 
term of the " Moral Sense/' or conscience, refers fto 
actions of which others are the subjects. It is the 
former of these that we are at present to investigate. 

We must all have observed the promptness with 
which we avoid any sudden danger, or inconvenience, 
before we have time to reason about the matter. As, 
for example, when we stumble, we instantly put forth 
tlie proper foot to prevent our fall. This cannot be 
said to be an act of the reasoning powers, because 
they have not had time to operate; and it is equally 
clear that it is not an act of instinct, because infants, 
who have only begun to walk have not the capacity 
of doing it. It is evidently another principle which, 
availing itself of the knowledge which the person has 
previously acquired by experience, now uses it spe- 
cially for the occasion. 

That this application of our knowledge arises nei- 
ther from instinct nor from reason, will be obvious from 
many circumstances of ordinary occurrence. — For ex- 
ample, when any object approaches the eye we in- 
stantly shut it ; — when any missile is thrown at us, 
we instantly turn the head aside to evade it ; — or 
when in walking something destroys our equihbrium 
and we stumble, we instantly bend the body in the 
proper direction, and to the precise point, necessary 
to restore our balance, and to prevent our fall. — 
Now it is obvious, that all these contingencies are 
provided for by one and the same principle, whatever 
that principle may be; and that they are acts which 
do not depend upon instinct, properly so called, 
is proved from the circumstance, that infants, be- 
fore they are taught by experience that the eye is so 
tender, and even adults who have but newly acquired 
the use of their sight, neither shut their eyes at the 
approach of objects, nor turn away their heads when 
a missle is thrown at them. — And we think it is 
equally clear, that it cannot be the result of reason- 
ing, in the sense in which we generally understand 



104^ PRACTICAL ENQUIKY INTO 

that term, because the mind has no time for consider- 
ation, far less for reasoning, during the short moment 
that occurs between the cause and the effect. 

The object which we have chiefly in view at pre- 
sent In. to point out the great end designed by Nature 
in all these actions, which is simply the ajrplication 
of knowledge. 1 here is the knowledge that objects 
entering the eye will give pain, and that the shutting 
of the eye will defend it. This we have shown is 
not an instinctive operation, but must have been ac- 
quired by experience ; — and it is this principle, into 
the nature of which we are now enquiring, that 
prompted the child in the special case to apply its 
knowledge by shutting the eye. In like manner, in 
the case of the missile thrown at the head, there is a 
previous knowledge of the effect which it will pro- 
duce, and a knowledge also of the means by which it 
is to be avoided, — and it is avoided ; — and in the case 
of losing the equilibrium, there is nothing more than 
the application of a latent knowledge, now suddenly 
brought into use on the spur of the moment, that 
by the movement of the foot the body will be sup- 
ported. The principle, whatever it be, which insti- 
gates children and adults to do all this, is the subject 
of our present enquiry, and which for the present we 
have denominated the "Animal," or "Common sense."* 
We shall therefore a little more particularly attend 
to its various indications. 

The operation of this principle in the infant has 
already been pointed out. When it has learned by 
experience that its nurse is kind, it stretches forth its 
little hands, and desires to be with the nurse ; — when 
in its first attempt at walking it experiences a fall, it 
applies this knowledge, by refusing again for some 
time to walk ; — and when it burns its finger at the 
flame of the candle, the application of that know- 
led oe induces it ever after to avoid both fire and 
flame. 

In after life the same principle continues to oper- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 105 

ate both independently of reason, and in conjunction 
with it. In encountering the air of a cold night, we, 
without reasoning on the matter, wrap ourselves closer 
in our cloak. When we turn a corner, and meet a 
sharp frosty wind, we lower the head to protect the 
uncovered face. When we emerge from the house, 
and perceive that the dulness of the day indicates 
rain, we almost instinctively return for a cloak or an 
umbrella. And the mariner at sunset, when he sees 
an opening in the sky indicating a storm, immediate- 
ly takes in sail, and makes all snuff for the night. In 
all these cases we perceive a principle within us, fre- 
quently operating along with reason, but sometimes 
also without it, which prompts us to apply our pre- 
vious knowledge for our present comfort and advan- 
tage.* The constant operation of such a principle 
in our nature, no matter by what name it is called, 
leads us, as plainly as analogy and natural phenomena 
can do, to conclude, that it ought to be carefully 
studied, and assiduously cultivated in the young, 
during the period usually assigned for their education. 
When we carefully trace the operation of this prin- 
ciple in common life, it appears that, in fact, the 
greater portion of our physical comforts depends upon 
it. " Experience" is but another name for it. We 
find some substances warmer, softer, harder, or more 
workable than others, and we apply this knowledge 
by substituting one for another. The savage finds 
the wigwam more convenient, or more easily come at, 
than a cave or a crevice in a rock, and he builds a wig- 
v/am ; — he finds a hut more durable than a wigwam, 
and he substitutes a hut ; — he at last finds a cottage 
still more convenient, and he advances in his desires 
and his abilities by his former experience, and he builds 
one. — In every advance, however, it is the application 
of his previous knowledge that increases his comforts, 
and tends to perpetuate them ; and accordingly, as a 

• Note F. 



106 rilACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

proper and a general application of the '' moral 
sense,'"' leads directly to national virtue ; so the 
proper and general application of this principle of 
" common sense" goes to promote every kind of per- 
sonal and family comfort, as well as national prospe7'ity. 
Its ramifications pierce through every design and 
action of industry and genius. It is the exercise of 
this principle alone which, in the worldly sense, dis- 
tino'uishes the wise man from the fool ; and which 
gives all the superiority which is possessed by a civi- 
lized, over a savage community. It is the chief guar- 
dian of our safety, and the parent of every personal 
and domestic comfort. It is, in short, familiarity 
with its exercise that imparts confidence to the philo- 
sopher, decision to the legislator, dexterity to the 
artificer, and perfection to the artist. In each case 
it is the accumulation of knowledge pw^ to use, which 
makes the distinction between one man and another ; 
and it is by the aggregation of such men that a na- 
tion becomes prosperous. It must never therefore 
be forgotten, that it is not the possession of know- 
ledge, but the use which we make of it, that confers 
distinction. For no truism is more incontrovertible 
than this, that knowledge which we cannot or do 
not use, is really useless. 

There is no wonder then that Nature should be at 
some pains in training her pupils to an exercise on 
which so much of their happiness and safety depends ; 
and it is of corresponding importance, that we should 
investigate the means, and the mode by which she 
usually accomplishes her end. If we can successfully 
attain this knowledge, we may be enabled to pursue 
a similar course in the training of the young, and 
with decided advantage. 

When we take any one of the numerous examples 

of the working of this principle in the adult, and 

carefully analyze it, we can detect three distinct stages 

in the operation, before the effect is produced. The 

Jirst is the knowledge of some useful truth, present 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCAT10>T. 107 

to the mind, and at the command of tlie will ; — there 
is, secondly^ an inference drawn from that truth, or 
portion of our knowledge, or the impression of an 
inference which was formerly drawn from it, and 
which, as we have seen in the infant, may remain long 
after the circumstance from which the lesson was de- 
rived has been forgotten ; — and there is, t/iirdly^ a 
special application of that inference or impression to 
our present circumstances. For example) in the case 
of the person leavmg the house, and suddenly return- 
ing to provide himself with an umbrella, there is 
first the knowledge of a fact, that '^ the sky is lower- 
ing ;'"* then there is an inference drawn from this 
fact, that " there will most probably be rain;" but 
the comfort — the whole benefit arising from this 
knowledge, and from this reasoning upon it, — depends 
on the third stage of the operations which is therefore 
the most important of all, namely, the application of 
the inference, or lesson, to his present circumstances. 
A mere knowledge of the fact that the sky lowered, 
would have remained a barren and a useless truth in 
the mind, unless he had proceeded to draw the pro- 
per inference from it ; and the inference itself, after 
it was drawn, would have done him no good, but 
must rather have added to his uneasiness, had he 
not proceeded to the third step of the operation, and 
applied the whole to the regulation of his conduct, in 
providing himself with an umbrella or a cloak. 

In like manner, in the supposed case of the mari- 
ner expecting a storm, there was first the knowledge 
of the fact, that the " sky was in a certain state." 
Now of this knowledge every person on board might 
have been in possession as well as the master himself, 
without the slightest benefit accruing to themselves 
or the ship, unless they had been trained, or enabled 
to draw the proper inference or lesson from it. The 
mere possession of the knowledge, therefore, would 
have been of no advantage. But the practised eve, 
and the previous experience of the master, enabled 



108 Practical kxquiry into 

him to draw the inference, that " there will be a 
storm." Even this, however, would not have saved 
the ship and crew, without tlie third, and the most 
important step of all, — the application of that inference 
or lesson to their present condition. It was that 
which induced him to give the necessary orders to 
prepare for the storm, and thus to secure the safety 
both of the ship and of all on board. 

Again, in the case of the infant burning its finger, 
there appears to be something like a similar process, 
which we can trace much better than the child itself. 
The child puts its finger to the flame of the candle, 
and it feels pain ; from which it learns, for the first 
time, that flame burns. This is the knowledge which 
it has acquired. But there is also an inference drawn 
from that knowledge, not by reasoning, but by the 
operation of the principle under consideration, an 
inference of which it is probable the child itself at 
the time is unconscious, but the existence of which 
is sufficiently proved by its uniform conduct after^ 
wards. By the operation of this principle in the 
child's mind, before he can reason, he has inferred, 
that if he shall again touch flame, he will again feel 
pain. He will very probably forget the particular 
circumstance in which his linger was burned, but 
the inference then drawn, — the impression made upon 
the mind, and which corresponds to an inference, — 
still remains, and is made the chief instrument which 
Nature employs in this most important part of all 
her valuable educational processes. The child ac- 
cordingly is found ever after, not only preserving the 
particular finger that was burned, but all its fingers 
and members, from a burning candle ; and not from 
a candle only, but from fire and flame of every kind. 

This appears to be the natural order of that pro- 
cess of which we are here speaking ; and before leav- 
ing it, there are two or three circumstances connected 
with it, that we ought not to omit noticing, more par- 
ticularly, because the whole of them appear to hold 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 109 

out additional evidence of the little value which 
Nature attaches to knowledge for its own sake, and 
of her decided approval of its acquisition, only, or at 
least chiefly, when it is reduced to practice. 

The first of these circumstances is, that Nature, 
in all cases, teaches popularly — not philosophically ; 
that is, she does not refuse to teach one part of a con- 
nected series of phenomena, because the whole is not 
yet perceived ; nor does she neglect the use of the legi- 
timate application of an ascertained truth, because 
the principle or law bv which it acts remains as yet 
undiscovered. Her object evidently is, the attainment 
of the most useful part of the knowledge presented to 
her pupil, and the practical use of that part ; leaving 
the investigation of the other parts to the will or con- 
venience of the person afterwards. The infant ac- 
cordingly made use of its knowledge, although it knew 
nothing about the nature of flame ; and the man and 
the mariner would have done as they did, although 
they had known nothing at all about the science of 
meteorology. 

The second remark which we would here make is, 
that Nature, in most cases, appears to put much 
more value on the inferences, or lessons, drawn from 
the knowledge we have acquired, than she does upon 
the knowledge itself. For example, in the case of 
the infant burning its finger, the circumstance itself 
will soon be forgotten ; but the inference, or the im- 
pression acquired by its means, will remain. And 
when at any subsequent period it avoids fire or flame, 
its mind is not so much occupied by the abstract 
truth that flame will burn, as by the lesson learned 
from that truth, that it should not meddle with it. 
This inference it now practically applies to its present 
situation. That the abstract truth, — the knowledge 
originally derived from the fact, — is included in the 
lesson, may be quite true ; but what we wish at pre- 
sent more particularly to point out is, that it is sel- 
dom adverted to by the infant. The inference> — the 

K 



no PRACTICAL ENdUIRY INTO 

lesson which the truth suggested, — is all that the 
child thought of. That alone is the fabric which 
Nature has been employed in rearing ; and the origi- 
nal truth has been used merely as scaffolding for the 
purpose. The edifice itself, accordingly? having 
been completed, the scaffolding is allowed to fall, as 
having answered its design. 

The same conclusion may be come to, by attend- 
ing to the circumstances connected with the opera- 
tion of the principle in adults. — The person who re- 
turned for his great-coat or umbrella after haying 
drawn the inference from the appearance of the sky, 
thought only of the coming shower ; and we could 
easily suppose a case, where the original indication 
of the sky might be totally forgotten, while the full 
impression that it would rain might still continue. 
In like manner, the mariner, in the bustle of prepa- 
ration, thinks only of the dreaded storm, while the 
original circumstance, — the knowledge from which 
the inference was drawn, — is now unheeded, or entire- 
ly forgotten. 

The other circumstance to which we would here 
solicit attention, as proving the same thing, is one 
to which we formerly alluded. It is the remarkable 
fact, that knowledge, of whatever kind, when it is 
practised, becomes more and more familiar and use- 
ful ; while that which is not acted upon, is soon 
blotted from the memory and lost. Writing, arith- 
metic, and spelling, not to speak of grammar, geo- 
graphy, and history, when not exercised in after life, 
are frequently found of no avail, even at times when 
they are specially required. — Why is this? They 
were once known. The knowledge was communicat- 
ed at a time when the mind and memory were best 
fitted for receiving and retaining them. But Nature 
in this, as in every other instance, has been true to 
herself; and the knowledge which is not used has been 
blighted, and at last removed from the memory and 
lost. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. Ill 

From all these circumstances taken together, we 
are led to conclude? that Nature never conveys know- 
ledge without intending it to be used ; — that by a prin- 
ciple in our constitution, which we have denominated 
" common sense," Nature prompts even infants to 
employ their knowledge for their own special benefit ; 
— that this principle continues invariably to act, till it 
is assisted or superseded by reason ; — and that the 
process consists in drawing inferences, or lessons, 
from known facts, and in practically applying them to 
present circumstances. All which points the Educa- 
tionist directly to the conclusion, that the communi- 
cation of knowledge is one of the means') but not the 
end, of education ; — ^that the lessons derived from 
the knowledge communicated, are infinitely more 
valuable than the knowledge itself; — and that the 
great design of education is, and ought to be, to train 
the young to know how to use, and to put to use, not 
only the knowledge communicated at school, but all 
the knowledge which they may acquire in their fu* 
ture journey through life. 



CHAP. X. 

On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge by means 
of the Moral Sense, or Conscience. 

Nature enables her pupils to apply knowledge 
by means of the moral sense, or conscience, as well as 
by the animal, or common sense. There is however 
this great difference in the manner in which they 
operate, — that whereas every infringement of the na- 
tural or physical laws which regulate the application 
of knowledge by Mdiat we have called the common 
sense, is invariably followed by its proper punishment, 
— the consequences of infringing the laws which re- 
gulate the moral sense, are neither so immediate, nor 
at the time so apparent. The child knows, that by 



112 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

putting his iinger to the candle, burning and pain will 
instantly follow ; — but the evil consequences of pur- 
loining sweet-meats, or telling a lie to avoid punish- 
ment, are not so obvious. Does Nature then put les& 
value on moral integrity, than on worldly prudence? 
Certainly not. But in the latter case she deals with 
man more as a physical and intellectual being ; and 
in the former, as a moral, a responsible, and an im- 
mortal being. The lower animals to a great extent 
participate with us in the benefits arising from at- 
tention to the laws which govern physical enjoy- 
ments ; but they know nothing of a moral sense^ 
which is peculiar to intelligent and accountable crea- 
tures. From this we may safely conclude, that the 
application of knowledge by means of the moral 
sense^ or conscience, is of infinitely more importance 
to man than the application of his knowledge by the 
animal, or common sense. 

For the purpose of arriving at accurate conclu- 
sions on this subject, in reference to education and 
the application of knowledge, we shall endeavour to 
investigate a few of the phenomena connected with 
the moral sense, as these are exhibited in the young 
and in adults ; and shall, in doing so, attempt to 
trace the laws by which these phenomena are several- 
ly guided. 

1. The first thing we would here remark, is, that 
the operations of the moral sense appear to be re- 
solvable into two classes, which may be termed its 
legislative and its ewecutive powers. When conscience 
leads us merely to judge and to decide upon the cha- 
racter of a feeling or an action, whether good or evil^ 
it acts in its legislative capacity; but when it re- 
proves and punishes, or approves and rewards, for 
actions done, it acts in its executive capacity. These 
two departments of the moral sense seem quite dis- 
tinct in their nature and operations ; and, as we shall 
immediately see, they not only exist separately, but 
they sometimes act independently of each other. 



THE PttlLOSOtilY OF EDUCATION. 113 

2. Another circumstance connected with conscience 
is, that her legislative powers do not develope them- 
selves, nor appear to act, till the reasoning powers of 
the person begin to expand. Then, and then only, 
does the pupil of Nature, who has not had the bene- 
fit of previous moral instruction, begin to decide on 
the merit or demerit of actions. Infants, and children 
who are left without instruction, appear to have no dis- 
tinct perception that certain actions are right, and others 
wrong. In infancy, we frequently perceive the most 
rebellious outbreakings of ungoverned passion, with 
tearing, and scratching, and beating the parent, with- 
out any indication of compunction, either at the time, 
or after it has taken place. Even in children of more 
advanced years, while they remain without moral in- 
struction, and before the reasoning powers are deve- 
loped, the injuries which they occasion to each other, 
or which they inflict upon the old, the decrepid, or 
the helpless, are matters of unmingled glee and gra- 
tification, without the slightest sign of conscience 
interfering to prevent I hem, or of giving them any 
uneasiness after the mischief is done. Instead of 
sorrow, such children are found invariably delighted 
with the recollection of their tricks; and never fail to 
recapitulate them to their companions afterwards, 
with triumph and satisfaction. — But it is not so with 
the adult. As soon as the reasoning powers are de- 
veloped, the legislative functions of conscience be- 
gin to act, enabling and impelling the person to 
decide at once on actions, whether they are right or 
wrong, good or evil. Such a person, therefore, 
could not strike nor abuse his parents, without know- 
ing that he was doing wrong ; nor could he tantalize 
or injure the aged or the helpless, without conscience 
putting him upon his guard, as well as reproving 
and punishing the crime by compunctious feelings 
after it was committed. 

From this we perceive, that the legislative powers 
of conscience are usually dormant in the child, and 
k3 



114 PEACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

do not, when left to Nature, act till the reasonings 
powers have exhibited themselves ; from which we are 
led to conclude, that it is by an early education, — by 
7noral instruction alone, — that the youn^ are to be 
guarded against crime, and prepared and furnished to 
good v/orks. 

3. This leads us to observe another remarkable 
circumstance, corroborative also of the above remark, 
which is, that although the legislative powers of 
conscience are but very imperfectly, if at all develop- 
ed in children, yet the eocecutive powers are never ab- 
sent, where moral instruction has previously been com- 
municated. — A child of very tender years, and even an 
infant, may be taught, that certain actions are good and 
should be performed, while others are evil and must 
be avoided. This is matter of daily experience ; and 
a little attention to the subject will shew, that moral 
instruction in the case of the young, acts the same 
part that the legislative powers of conscience do in the 
adult. But what we wish at present more particu- 
larly to remark is, that whenever such moral instruc- 
tion has been communicated, Nature at once sanctions 
it? and is ever ready to use the executive powers of 
the conscience for the purpose of rendering it effec- 
tive. When therefore good actions have been point- 
ed out as praiseworthy and deserving of approbation, 
there is a strong inducement to practise them, and a 
delightful feeling of satisfaction and self-approval 
after they have been performed. And when, on the 
contrary, certain other actions have been denounced 
as wicked, and which, if indulged in, will be punished 
either by their parents or by God, the child feels all the 
hesitation and fear to commit them, that is observable 
in similar cases among older persons ; and, when com- 
mitted he experiences the same remorse, and terror, and 
self-reproach, which in the adult follow the perpetra- 
tion of an aggravated crime. This is a circumstance 
which must be obvious to every reader; and it dis- 
tinctly intimates, that the God of Nature intends that 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 115 

the legislative powers of conscience should in all cases 
be anticipated by the parent and teacher. The mo- 
ral instruction of the young is to be the rule ; the 
neglect of it? although in some measure provided for, 
is to be the exception. The lesson is as plain as ana- 
logy can teach us, that, while there is written on the 
heart of man such an outline of the moral law as 
will leave him without excuse when called to judg- 
ment, yet it is not the design of the Creator that, 
in a matter of such vast importance as the moral per- 
fection of a rational creature, we should trust to that> 
andj like savages, leave our children to gather informa- 
tion respecting moral good and evil solely from the 
slowly developed and imperfect dictates of their own na- 
ture. The whole phenomena of the natural conscience 
shew, that although God secures the operation of the 
legislative powders of conscience to direct the actions 
of the man when they are really required, yet he in- 
tends that they should be anticipated by moral in- 
struction given by the parent. And this is proved by 
the remarkable fact, that when this instruction is 
com.municated, the executive powers of conscience 
immediately come into operation, and homologate this 
instruction, by approving of it, adopting it, and act- 
ing upon it. 

4. This is still farther obvious from a fourth consi- 
deration, which is, that wherever moral instruction 
has been communicated to the young, the legislative 
powers of conscience are either altogether superseded, 
or left dormant. — Every person who in youth has 
received a regular moral and religious education, and 
who retains upon his mind the knowledge then com- 
municated, is found through life to act upon that 
knowledge chiefly, if not entirely. He seldom thinks 
of the dictates of his natural conscience, and but 
rarely perceives them. In every decision to which 
he comes as to what is right or wrong, reference is 
generally m.ade in his mind, either to the declara- 
tions of Scripture, or to the moral instructions which 



116 PKACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

he has formerly received ; and upon these he inva- 
riably falls back, when any action of a doubtful cha- 
racter is presented for his approval or rejection. 
From this very remarkable circumstance, we at once 
ascertain what are the intentions of Nature. She 
very plainly requires the early moral instruction of 
the young, by those into whose hands she has placed 
them ; because she is here found to encourao-e and 
acknowledge this instruction at the expense of her own 
legislative powers, which not being now required, 
are allowed to lie idle. 

5. Another circumstance connected with this sub- 
ject, is the well known fact, that children are found 
capable of moral instruction long before the time that 
Nature usually begins to develope the legislative 
powers of the conscience. — A child, almost as soon as 
he can be made to know that he has an earthly fa- 
ther, niciy be taught that he has another Father in 
heaven ; and w hen he can be induced to feel that a 
certain line of conduct is necessary to secure the fa- 
vour of the one, he may also be led to comprehend 
that certain dispositions and actions will please the 
other. Now, that a child can be taught and trained 
to do all this with respect to his parents, is matter of 
daily experience. As soon as he can understand any 
thing, and long before he can speak, he may be en- 
abled to distinguish between right and wrong, as well 
as to do that which is good, and to avoid that which 
is evil ; and in every case of this kind, Nature sanc- 
tions the moral instruction communicated, by inva- 
riably following it up with the practical operation of 
the executive powers of conscience, which always 
approve that which the child thinks is good, and 
reprove that which he supposes to be wrong. The 
triumphant gleam of satisfaction which brightens the 
countenance of a child, and the laughing look and 
pause for approval when he has done something 
that he knows to be right, are abundant proofs 
of the truth of this observation ; -while his cowering 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 117 

scowl, and fear of reproof or punishment, when he has 
done that which is wrong, are equal indications of the 
same thing. Nature, therefore, that has given the 
capacity of distinguishing between good and evil 
when thus communicated, and that invariably ap- 
proves of the operation, and assists in it, has most cer- 
tainly intended that it should be exercised. This 
consideration, taken in connection with its advantages 
to the family, to the child? to the future man, and to 
society, plainly points out the value and the impor- 
tance of early religious instruction and moral training. 

6. Another circumstance, in connection with the 
application of knowledge by means of the conscience, 
should not be overlooked. It is the remarkable fact, 
that Nature has implanted in the mind of the young 
a principle, by which they unhesitatingly believe 
whatever they are told. — A child who has not been 
abused by frequent deceptions, is a perfect picture 
of docility. He never for a moment doubts either his 
parent or his teacher when he tells him what is right 
and what is wrong. If he be taught that it is a sin 
to eat flesh on Fridays, he never questions the truth 
of it ; and if told that he may kill spiders, but should 
not hurt flies, he may wonder at the difference, but 
he never doubts the correctness of the statement. 
This disposition in children is applicable to every 
kind of instruction offered to them ; — but the su- 
perior importance of moral, to every other kind of 
truth, and the beneficial effects of the principle vvhen 
applied to moral and religious training, shew that it is 
chiefly designed by Nature for aiding the parent and 
teacher in this most important part of their labours. 

7' Another circumstance connected with this sub- 
ject is, that the executive powers of conscience always 
act according to the belief of the person, and not 
according to what would have been the dictates of 
conscience in the exercise of her leo-islative functions. 
— This of itself is a sufficient proof of the separate and 
independent agency of these two principles. The 



118 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

legislative powers, as at first implanted in the heart 
of man, there is reason to believe, would, if allowed 
to act freely, never have been in error ; and even still, 
they are generally a witness for the purity of truth ; — 
but the executive powers invariably act, not according 
to what is really the truth, but according to what the 
person himself believes to be right or wrong. The 
child who was told that it was a sin to eat flesh on a 
Friday, would be reproved by his conscience were 
he to indulge his appetite by doing so; — and the 
conscience of the zealous Musselman, which would 
smite him for indulging in a sip of wine, w^ould com- 
mend and reward him by its approval, for indulging 
in cruelty and injustice to the unbeliever in his faith. 
The executive functions of conscience then act inde- 
pendently of the legislative, and frequently in oppo- 
sition to them. There must be a feeling of wrong, 
before the executive powers will reprove ; and there 
must be a sense of merit, before they will commend ; 
— ^but a mistake in either case makes no apparent dif- 
ference. This is another, and a powerful argument 
for the early moral instruction of the young ; and it 
shews us also, the greater value which Nature puts 
upon the application and useoi knowledge, than upon 
its possession. She not only encourages this appli- 
cation in all ordinary cases ; but here we find her, 
for the purpose of maintaining the general principle, 
lending her assistance in the application and use of 
the knowledge received, even when the knowledge 
itself is erroneous, and the application mischievous. 

8. Another important circumstance which is worthy 
of especial notice, is, that conscience is much more 
readily acted upon by eooamples-, than by precepts. — 
In communicating a knowledge of duty, this principle 
in Nature has become proverbial ; but it is not less 
true with respect to the executive powers, in approv- 
ing or reproving that which is right or wrong. It 
is the prerogative of conscience to excite us to approve 
or condemn the conduct of others, as well as our 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 119 

own ; and this is regulated, not by strict truth, but 
by our belief at the time, whether that belief be cor- 
rect or the contrary. Now the precept, " Thou 
shalt not kill," would be sufficient to make the exe- 
cutive powers of conscience watchful, in deterring 
the individual from the crime, or in reproving and 
punishing him if he committed it. But the mere 
precept would have but little effect in exhibiting to 
him the full atrocity of the sin, in comparison with 
an anecdote or a story which detailed its commission. 
But even this would not be so powerful as the effect 
produced by a murder committed in a neighbouring 
street, and still more were it perpetrated in his own 
presence. The necessary inference to be drawn from 
this remarkable fact is, that moral truth is much 
more effectively taught by example than by precept ; 
and accordingly we find, that at least four-fifths of 
scripture, which is altogether a moral instrument, 
consist of narrative? and are given specially, " that 
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished 
to every good work." 

9. Another circumstance worthy of observation is, 
that the executive powers of conscience appear to be 
exceedingly partial when exercised upon actions done 
by oursetves, in comparison of its decisions upon the 
same actions when they are committed by others. — 
When we ourselves perform a good action, the ap- 
proval of our conscience is more lively and more ex- 
tensive, than it would have been had the good action 
been that of another. On the contrary, it would be 
more ready to perform its functions, and more power- 
ful in impressing upon our minds the demerit or 
wickedness of an action committed by another, than 
if we ourselves had committed it. The reason of this 
is obviously self-love, which partly overbears the 
natural operations of this principle. Violence of 
passion and strong desire, when we are tempted to 
commit a crime, are hostile movements against the 
dictates of conscience ; and they too frequently, by 



120 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

their excess, stifle and drown the still small voice 
which does speak out, but which, for the moment, 
is not heard within us. — But nothing of this kind 
takes place when the crime is committed by others. 
We are then much more impartial; and conscience is 
permitted to utter her voice, and to make her impres- 
sions without opposition. This impartial decision 
on the conduct of others, is found to be a great means 
of preventing us from the future commission of a 
similar crime ; and this affords us another powerful 
argument in favour of early instruction and moral 
training. By attending early to this duty, the mind of 
the child is made up, and sentence has been pronoun- 
ed on certain acts, before selfishness or the passions 
have had an opportunity of blinding the mind, or 
silencing the conscience. By proper moral training 
the pupil is fortified and prepared for combating his 
evil inclinations when temptations occur ; but without 
this, he will have to encounter sudden temptations at 
a great disadvantage. 

10. Another circumstance connected with this sub- 
ject is, that the moral sentiments and feelings above 
all others, are improved and strengthened by exercise ; 
and are weakened, and often destroyed by disregard 
or opposition. — Every instance of moral exercise or 
moral discipline, invigorates the executive powers of 
conscience, and renders the moral perceptions of the 
person more acute and tender. Every successful 
struggle against a temptation, implants in the mind 
of a child a noble consciousness of dignity, and con- 
fers a large amount of moral strength, and a firmer 
determination to resist others. In this respect, the 
good derived from the mere knowledge of a duty 
and its actual performance is immense. A child who 
is merely told that a certain action is praiseworthy, 
is by no means so sensible of the fact, or of its value, 
as he is after he has actually performed it ; and when, 
on the contrary, he is told that a certain action is 
wrong, he is no doubt prepared to avoid it ; but it is 



i 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 121 

not till he has been tempted to its commission, and has 
successfully overcome the temptation, that he is fully 
aware of its enormity. When he has successfully 
resisted the first temptation, he is much better pre- 
pared than any exhortation or warning could make 
him for resisting and repelling a second ; — while 
every successive victory will give strength to the exe- 
cutive powers of the conscience, and will render fu- 
ture conflicts less hazardous, and resistance more 
easy. For the same reason, an amiable action fre- 
quently performed does not pall by repetition, but 
appears more and more amiable, till the doing of it 
grows into a habit ; and the approval of conscience 
becoming every day more satisfactory, the person will 
be stimulated to its frequent and regular observance. 

But the opposite of this is equally true. — The con- 
tinued habit of suppressing the voice of conscience 
will greatly weaken, and will at last destroy its exe- 
cutive powers. When a person knows that a certain 
action is wrong, and is tempted to commit it, — con- 
science will speak out, and for the first time at least 
it will be listened to. But if this warning be neglected, 
and the sin be committed, the conscience will be pro- 
portionally weakened, and the self-will of the indivi- 
dual will acquire additional strength. When the temp- 
tation again presents itself, it is with redoubled 
power, and it meets with less resistance. It will in- 
variably be found in such cases, that the person felt 
much more difficulty in resisting the admonitions of 
conscience in the case of the first temptation, than 
in that of the second ; and he will also feel more dur- 
ing the second than he will during the third. Fre- 
quent resistance offered to the executive powers of 
conscience will at last lay them asleep. The beginning 
of this downward career is always the most difficult ; 
but when once fairly begun, it grows every day more 
easy, till the habit of sin becomes like. a second nature. 

11. There is yet another feature in the exhibition 
of the moral sense in adults, which ought not to be 



122 PIlACTICxVL ENQUIRY tXTO 

overlooked by the Educationist in his treatment of 
the young. We here allude to the remarkable fact, 
that the conscience scarcely ever refers to conse- 
quences connected merely with this world and time, 
but compels the man, in spite of himself, to fear, 
that his actions will, in some way or other, have an 
influence upon his happiness or his misery in another 
world, and through eternity. — The mere uneasiness 
arising from the fear of detection and punishment by 
men, is a perfectly different kind of feehng, and never 
is, and never ought to be, dignified with the name of 
conscience. It is the consequence of a mere animal 
calculation of chances ; — similar to the feelings which 
give rise to the cautious prowling of the hungry lion, 
or the stealthy advances of the timorous fox. But 
the forebodings, as well as the gnawings of conscience, 
extend much farther, and strike much deeper, than 
these superficial and animal sensations. Conscience 
in man, as long as it is permitted to act freely, has 
always a reference to God, to a future judgment, and 
to eternity, and is but rarely affected by worldly 
considerations. The valuable lesson to be drawn 
from this circumstance obviously is, that the parent 
and teacher ought, in their moral training of the 
young, to make use of the same principle. The antici- 
pated approbation or displeasure of their earthly parents 
or teachers, or even the fear of the rod and correction, 
is not enough. Children are capable of being re- 
strained by much higher motives, and stimulated to 
duty by nobler and more generous feelings. The 
greatness, the holiness, the unwearied goodness, and 
the omnipresence of their heavenly Father, present to 
the rational and tender affections of the young, a 
constantly increasing stimulus to obedience and self- 
controul ; — while the fear of mere physical suffering 
will be found daily to decrease, and may perhaps in 
some powerful minds at last altogether disappear. The 
horse and the dog were intended to be trained in the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 123 

one way ; — but rational and intelligent minds were 
obviously intended to be trained in the other. 

Of these facts, connected as they are with the ap- 
plication of knowledge by means of the moral sense, 
the Educationist must make use for the perfecting 
of his science. They are the most valuable, and 
therefore they ought to form the most important 
branch of his investigations. All the other parts of 
Nature's teaching were but means ; — this is obvious- 
ly the great end she designed by using them, and 
therefore it ought to be his also. 

In regard to the practical working of this important 
part of Nature's educational process, we need only 
remark here, that the application of the pupil's know- 
ledge connected with the moral sense, is precisely the 
same in form, as in that connected with the common 
sense. There is always here first, as in the former 
case, some fundamental truth, generally derived from 
Scripture, or founded on some moral maxim, and 
presented in the form of a precept, a promise, a 
threatening, or an example ; — there is next a lesson 
or inference drawn from this truth ; — and there is, 
lastly, a practical application of that lesson or in- 
ference to present circumstances. 

For the purpose of illustrating this, let us suppose 
that a boy who has been trained in imitation of Na- 
ture, is tempted by some ungodly acquaintances to 
join with them in absenting himself from public 
worship, and in breaking the Sabbath. The moment 
that such a temptation is suggested to him, a feeling 
arises in his mind, which will take something like 
the following form : — '' I ought not to absent myself 
from public worship ;" — " I ought not to break the 
Sabbath ;" — " I ought not to keep bad company." 
Here are three distinct lessons suited to the occasion, 
obviously derived from his previous knowledge, and 
which he has been trained either directly or indi- 
rectly to draw from " the only rule of duty," the 
Bible. When, accordingly, the temptation is farther 



124l PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

pressed upon him, and the reasons of his refusal are 
regularly put into form, they appear in something like 
the following shape and order : — '' 1 must not absent 
myself from public worship ; for thus it is written, 
' Forget not the assembling of yourselves together ;"* 
and, ' Jesus, as his custom was, went to the synagogue 
on the Sabbath day.' " — " I must not profane this 
holy day ; for thus it is written, ' Remember the 
Sabbath day to keep it holy.'" — And, " I must not 
go with these boys ; for thus it is written, < Go not 
in the way of the ungodly ;' and ' Evil communica- 
tions corrupt good manners.'"' 

Whoever will investigate the subject closely, will 
find, that the above is a pretty correct picture of the 
mental process, wherever temptation is opposed and 
overcome by means of religious principle ; — but it is 
also worthy of remark, that the form is still nearly the 
same by whomsoever a temptation is resisted, and whe- 
ther they do or do not take the Scriptures for their 
text-book and directory. The only difference in such a 
case is, that their lessons have been drawn from some 
other source. For example, another boy exposed to 
the above temptation might successfully resist it upon 
the following grounds. He might say, " I must not 
absent myself from public worship; because I shall 
then lose the promised reward for taking home 
the text;" — " I dare not profane the Sabbath; be- 
cause, if I did, my father would punish me ;" — " I 
will not go with these boys; because I would be 
ashamed to be seen in their company." In this lat- 
ter example, we have the same lessons, and the same 
application, although these lessons have been derived 
from a more questionable, and a much more variable 
source. In both cases, however, it is the same operation 
of Nature, and which we ought always to imitate 
therefore upon scriptural and solid grounds. 

These examples might be multiplied in various 
forms, and yet they would in every case be found 
substantially alike. The application of knowledge. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 125 

whether by the common or the moral sense, is carried 
forward only in one way, in which the truth, the les- 
son, and the application, follow each other in na- 
tural order, whetlier they be perceived or not. To this 
process, therefore, every branch and portion of our 
knowledge ought to be adapted, as it is obviously 
the great end designed by Nature in all her previous 
endeavours. The parent, therefore, or the teacher, 
who wilfully passes over, or but slightly attends to 
these plain indications, is really betraying his trust, 
and deeply injuring the future prospects of his im- 
mortal charge. 

The several circumstances enumerated in the pre- 
vious part of this chapter, as connected with the 
moral sense, are capable of suggesting many impor- 
tant hints for the establishment of education ; but 
there are one or two connected with the subject as a 
whole, to which we must very shortly allude. 

In the first place, from the foregoing facts we are 
powerfully led to the conclusion, that all kinds of 
physical good, such as health, strength, beauty, 
riches, and honours, and even the higher attainments 
of intellectual sagacity and knowledge, are, in the 
estimation of Nature, not once to be compared with 
the very lowest of the moral acquirements. With 
respect to the former, man shares them, though iii 
a higher degree, with the brute creation ; — but morals 
are altogether peculiar to higher intelligences. To 
man, in particular, the value of moral discipline is be- 
yond calculation : — For, however much the present ig- 
norance and grossness of men's minds may deceive them 
in weighing their respective worth, yet it would be 
easy to shew, that the knowledge and practice of but 
one additional truth in morals, are of more real value 
to a child, than a whole lifetime of physical enjoy- 
ment. Nature has accordingly implanted in his 
constitution, a complete system of moral machinery, 
to assist the parent in this first and most important 
part of his duty, — that of guiding his children in the 
J.6 



126 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

paths of religion and virtue. The executive powers 
of conscience are always alive and active, stimulating 
or restraining both young and old, wherever the ac- 
tion proposed partakes of the character of right or 
wrong. And, even where the parental duties in this 
respect have been neglected, Nature has, in part, 
graciously provided a remedy. In all such cases, 
during the years of advancing manhood, the law is 
gradually and vividly written upon the heart. Its 
dictates are generally, no doubt, dimmed and defaced 
by the natural depravity and recklessness of the sin- 
ner; but even then, they are sufficiently legible to leave 
him without excuse for his neglect of their demands. 
The preference which Nature gives to moral acquire- 
ments, is demonstrated also by another feature in her 
different modes of applying knowledge by the common 
and the moral senses. In the attainment of physical 
good, Nature leaves men:, as she does the lower ani- 
mals, in a great measure to themselves, under the 
guardianship of the common sense ; but, in respect 
to actions that are morally good or evil, she deals 
with them in a much more solemn and dignified man- 
ner. A transgression of the laws of the natural or 
common sense, is, without discrimination and without 
mercy, visited with present and corresponding pun- 
ishment ; plainly indicating, that with respect to 
these there is to be no future reckoning ; — while the 
trial and final judgment of moral acts are usualty 
reserved for a future, a more solemn, and a more 
comprehensive investigation. 

Another inference which legitimately arises out of 
the above considerations, as well as from the facts 
themselves, is, that religion and morals are really 
intended to be the chief object of attention in the 
education of the young. This is a circumstance so 
clearly and so frequently pointed out to us, in our 
observation of Nature's educational processes, that 
no person, we think, of a philosophic turn of mind, 
can consistently refuse his assent to it. The facts 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUC^^TION. 127 

are so numerous, and the legitimate inferences to be 
drawn from them are so plain, that preconceived 
opinions should never induce us either to blink them 
from fear, or deny them from prejudice. These 
facts and inferences too, it should be observed, present 
themselves to our notice in all their own native 
power and simplicity, invulnerable in their own 
strength, and, in one sense, altogether independent 
of revelation. They are, no doubt, efficiently sup- 
ported in every page of the Christian Record; but? 
without revelation, they force themselves upon our 
conviction, and cannot be consistently refuted. We 
state this fearlessly, from a consideration of numerous 
facts, to a few of which, selected from among many, 
we shall? before concluding, very shortly advert. 

In the first place, it is obvious to the most cursory 
observer, that moral attainments and moral great- 
ness are more honoured by Nature, and are, of 
course, more valuable to man, than the possession 
of either intellectual or physical good. — Nature has, 
to the possessor, made virtue its own reward, in that 
calm consciousness of dignity? self- approval, and peace, 
which are its natural results ; while, even from the 
mere looker-on, she compels an approval. On the 
contrary, we find, that the highest intellectual or phy- 
sical attainments, when coupled with vice, lead di- 
rectly and invariably to corresponding depths of de- 
gradation and misery. No one, we think, can deny 
this as a general principle ; and if it be admitted, 
the question is settled ; for no person acting rationally 
would seek the lesser good for his child, at the ex- 
pense of the greater. 

Another proof of the same fact is, that Nature 
has provided for the physical and intellectual educa- 
tion of the young, by means of the animal or " common 
sense ;" while morals are, in a great measure, left to 
the education of the parents. The principle of com- 
mon sense, as we have seen, begins its operations and 
discipline in early infancy, and continues to act 



128 PRACTICAL ENatriRY INTO 

through life ; but the culture of the moral sense, — ^ 
by far the most important of the two, — is left dur- 
ing infancy and childhood very much to the affec- 
tions of the natural guardians of the child, and to 
the results of their education. Hence it is, that 
while Nature amply provides for the neglect of this 
duty, by the developement of the legislative powers 
of conscience towards manhood, they are compara- 
tively feeble, and in ordinary cases are but little 
thought of or observed, wherever this duty has 
timeously been attended to. From all these circum. 
stances we infer, that it is the intention of Nature, 
that the establishment and culture of religion and 
morals should in every case form the chief objects 
of education,— the main business of the family and 
the school ; — an intention which she has pointed out 
and guarded by valuable rewards on the one hand> 
and severe penalties on the other. When the duty 
is faithfully attended to, Nature lends her powerful 
assistance, by the early developement of the execu- 
tive powers of conscience, and the virtue of the pu- 
pil is the appropriate reward to both parties ; but, 
when this is omitted, the growing depravity of the 
child becomes at once the reproof and the punish- 
ment of the parents, for this wilful violation of Na- 
ture's designs. 

In conclusion, it may be necessary to remark? that 
from these latter circumstances, another and a di- 
rectly opposite inference may be drawn, which we 
must not allow to pass without observation. — It may 
be said, that the very postponement of the legislative 
powers of conscience till the years of manhood, shews, 
that religion and morals are not designed to be taught 
till that period arrive. Now, to this there are two 
answers. — First, if it were correct, it would set aside, 
and render useless almost all the other indications of 
Nature on this subject. In accordance with the view 
taken of the circumstances as above, these indica- 
tions are perfectly harmonious and effective ; but, in 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 129 

the view of the case which this argument supposes, 
they are all inconsistent and useless. — But, secondly^ 
if this argument proves any thing, it proves too 
much, and would infer the absurd proposition, that 
physical and intellectual qualities are superior in va- 
lue to moral attainments ; — a proposition that is con- 
tradicted, as we have shewn, by every operation and 
circumstance in Nature and providence. It is in 
direct opposition also to all the unsophisticated feelings 
of human Nature. No thinking person will ven- 
ture to affirm, that the beauty of the courtezan, the 
strength of the robber, or the intelligence and saga- 
city of the swindler, are more to be honoured than 
the generous qualities of a Wilberforce or a Howard. 
And therefore it is, that from a calm and dispassion- 
ate consideration of these facts, and independently 
altogether of revelation, we cannot see how any im- 
partial philosophic mind can evade the conclusion, 
that the chief object to be attended to in the educa- 
tion of the young, and to which every thing else 
should be strictly subservient, is their regular and 
early training in religion and morals. 



CHAP. XI. 

On Nature^s Method of Training her Pupils to 
Communicate their Knowledge, 

There is yet a Fourth process in the educational 
system of Nature, which may be termed supple- 
mentary, as it is not intended solely, nor even chiefly, 
for the good of the pupil himself, but for the com- 
munity. — This process of Nature consists in the 
training of her pupil to communicate, by language, 
not only his own wishes and wants, but also, and 
perhaps chiefly, the knowledge and experience which 
he himself has attained. The three previous processes 
of Nature were in a great measure selfish, — referring 
to the pupil as an individual, and are of use although 



130 PRACTICAL ENQUIKY INTO 

he should be alone, and isolated from all others of his 
species; but this is characteristically social, and to 
the monk and the hermit is altogether useless. 

That this ability to communicate our sentiments is 
intended by Nature, not for the sole benefit of the in- 
dividual, but chiefly as an instrument of doing good 
to others, appears obvious from various circumstances. 
Its importance in education, and in the training of the 
young, would of itself, we think, be a sufficient proof 
of this ; but it is rendered unquestionable by the in- 
variable decision of every unbiassed mind, in judging 
of a person who is constantly speaking of and for him- 
self; and of another whose sole object in conversation, 
is to exalt and promote the happiness of those around 
him. The one person, however meritorious other- 
wise, is pitied or laughed at ; — the other is admired 
and applauded in spite of ourselves. 

The benevolence of this arrangement in the educa- 
tional process of Nature is worthy of especial notice, 
as it leads us directly to the conclusion, that learning, 
of whatever kind, is not intended to be a monkish 
and personal thing, but is really designed by Nature 
for the benefit of the community at large. Those 
connected with education, therefore, are here taught, 
that the training of the young should be so conducted, 
that while the attainments of the pupil shall in every 
instance benefit himself, they shall at the same time 
be of such a kind, and shall be communicated in such 
a way, as shall advantage the persons with whom he 
is to mingle, and the community of which he is to 
form apart. Unless this lesson, taught us by Nature, 
be attended to, her plan is obviously left incomplete. 

In entering upon the consideration of this part of 
our subject, we cannot but remark the value and 
the importance which Nature has attached to the 
higher acquisitions of this anti-selfish portion of her 
teaching. Language is perverted and abused, when 
it is generally and chiefly employed for the benefit 
of the individual himself ; and the decision of every 



THE PHItOSOPPIY OF EDUCATION. 131 

candid and well-disposed mind confirms the truth of 
this assertion. When, on the contrary, it is employed 
for the benefit of others, or for the good of the public 
in general, it commands attention, and compels ap- 
proval. Eloquence, therefore, is obviously intended 
by Nature for the benefit of communities ; and ac- 
cordingly, she has so disposed matters in the consti- 
tution of men's minds, and of society, that commu- 
nities shall in every instance do it homage. In proof 
of this, we find, in every age and nation, wherever 
Nature is not totally debased by art or crime, that 
the most powerful orator, has almost always been 
found to be the most influential man. Every other 
qualification in society has been made to bend to this, 
and even reason itself is often for the moment ob- 
scured, ])y means of its fascinations. Learning and 
intellect, riches, popularity, and power, have fre- 
quently been made to quail before it ; and even vir- 
tue itself has for a time been deprived of its influence, 
when assailed by eloquence. Nay, even in more ar- 
tificial communities, where Nature has been con- 
strained and moulded anew to suit the tastes and ca- 
prices of selfish men, eloquence has still maintained 
its reputation, and has generally guided the possessor 
to honour and to power. Amongst the lower and 
unsophisticated classes of society its influence is 
almost universal ; and in most polished communities, 
it is still acknowledged as a high attainment, and one 
of the best indications that has yet been aflbrded of 
superior mental culture. 

That this is not an erroneous estimate of the men- 
tal powers of a finished debater, will be evident from 
a shght analysis of what he has to achieve in the 
exercise of his art. He has, while his adversary is 
speaking, to receive and retain upon his mind, the 
whole of his argument, — separate its weak and strong 
points, — and call forth and arrange those views and 
illustrations which are calculated to overthrow and 
demolish it. This itself, even when performed in 



132 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

silence, is a prodigious effort of mental strength ; 
but when he commences to speak, and to manage 
these, with other equally important operations of his 
own mind at the same moment, the difficulty of suc- 
ceeding is greatly increased. When he begins to 
pour forth his refutation in an uninterrupted flow of 
luminous eloquence; — meeting, combating, and set- 
ting aside his opponent's statements and reasonings ; 
— carefully marking, as he goes along, the effect pro- 
duced upon his hearers, and adapting his arguments 
to the varying emotions and circumstances of the 
audience ; — withholding, transposing, or abridging 
the materials he had previously prepared, or seizing 
new illustrations suggested by passing incidents ; — 
and all this not only without hesitation, and without 
confusion, but with the most perfect composure and 
self-controul; — such a man givesevidenceof an energy, 
a grasp, a quickness of thought, which, as an exhi- 
bition of godlike power in a creature, has scarcely a 
parallel in the whole range of Nature's efforts. All 
kinds and degrees of physical glory, in comparison 
with this, sink into insignificance. 

It is but rare indeed that any country or age 
produces a Demosthenes, a Pitt, a Thomson, or a 
Brougham ; and such persons have hitherto been con- 
sidered as gifts of Nature, rather than the legitimate 
production of educational exercises. But this we con- 
ceive to be a mistake. They may perhaps have been 
self-taught, and self-exercised, as Demosthenes con- 
fessedly was ; but that teaching, and especially men- 
tal and oral exercise, are necessary for the production 
of one of Nature's chief ornaments, both analogy and 
experience abundantly shew.* Fluency in the use of 
words is not enough, — copiousness of thought, such 
as may be of use in the study, is not enough ; — for 
Nature's work, of which we are at present speaking, 
<!onsists chiefly in the faculty of forming one train of 

• NoteG. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 133 

thouMits in the mind, at the same time that the indi- 
vidtial is giving expression to another. Every child, 
accordingly, who holds conversation with his compa- 
nion, is practising on a limited scale the very exercise 
which, if carried out by regular gradations, would 
ultimately lead to that excellence which we have 
above described. In every case of free unconstrain- 
ed conversation, the operation of this principle of Na- 
ture is apparent ; for the idea is present to the mind 
some time before the tongue gives it utterance, and 
the person is preparing a second idea, at the moment 
he is communicating the first. Upon this simple princi- 
ple the whole art of eloquence, when analyzed, appears 
to depend. We shall therefore endeavour to trace its 
operation, and the methods which Nature adopts for 
the purpose of perfecting it. 

That this ability is altogether acquired, and de- 
pends wholly upon exercise for its cultivation, is ob- 
vious in every stage of its progress, but especially 
towards its commencement. When Nature first be- 
gins to suggest to an infant the use of language, we 
perceive that it cannot think and speak at the same 
moment. Long after it has acquired the knowledge 
of words and names? and even the power of articulat- 
ing them, it utters but one syllable, or one word at 
a time. Its language, for a while after it has acquired 
a pretty extensive acquaintance with nouns and ad- 
jectives, is made up of single, or at most double words, 
with an observable pause between each, as if, after 
uttering one, it had to collect its thouohts and a^ain 
prepare for a new effort, before it was able to pro- 
nounce the next. Tliis is the child''s first step, or ra- 
ther the child's first attempt, in this important exer- 
cise ; and it is conspicuous chiefly by the want, even in 
the least degree, of that power of which we have spok- 
en. By and bye, however, the child is able to put 
two syllables, or two words together, without the 
pause ; — but not three. That is a work of time, and 
that again has to become familiar, before four, or more 

M 



134 PIIACTICAL ENQUIRY I x\ I O 

words be attempted. These, however, are at last 
mastered ; and he slowly acquires by practice the abi- 
lity to utter a short sentence, composed chiefly of 
nouns, adjectives, and verbs, without interruption, and 
at last without difficulty. 

In the process here described, we perceive the 
commencement of Nature's exercises in training her 
pupil to the acquisition of this valuable faculty. It 
consists chiefly, as we have said, in enabling the child 
by regular practice to arrive at such a command of 
the mental faculties, and the powers of articulation, 
as qualifies him to exercise both apparently at the 
same moment. His mind is employed in preparing 
one set of ideas, while the organs of speech are en- 
gaged in giving utterance to another. He thinks 
that which he is about to speak, at the moment he is 
speaking that which he previously thought ; and if, as 
is generally admitted, the mind cannot be engaged 
upon two things at the same moment, there is here 
an instance of such a rapid and successive transition 
from one to another, as obviously to elude percep- 
tion. 

The various means which Nature employs in 
working out this great end in the young are very 
remarkable. We have seen that a child at first does 
not possess the power of uttering even a word, while 
his thoughts are engaged on any thing else. The 
powers of the mind must as it were be concentrated 
upon that one word, till by long practice he can at 
Jast think on one and utter another. The same dif- 
ficulty of speaking and thinking on diff*erent things 
is observable in his amusements ; and Nature appears 
to employ the powerful auxiliary of his play to assist 
him in overcoming it. When a young child is en- 
gaged in any amusement w^hich requires thought, 
the inability of the mind to do double duty is very 
evident. He cannot hear a question, nor speak a 
single sentence, and go on with his play at the same 
time. If a question be asked, he stops, looks up, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 135 

hears, answers, and then perhaps collects his thoughts, 
and again proceeds with his game as before ; but for 
a long time he cannot even hear, far less speak, and 
play at the same moment. When a child is able to 
do this, it is a good sign of his having acquired con- 
siderable mental powers. 

The excitement of play, we have said, is one chief 
means which Nature employs for the cultivation of 
this faculty, and it is peculiarly worthy of attention 
by the Educationist. Every one must have observed 
the strong desire which children have, during their 
more exhilarating games, to exercise their lungs by 
shouting, and calling out, and giving direction, en- 
couragement, or reproof, to their companions. In 
all these instances, the impetus of their play is not 
apparently stopt while they speak, and every time 
that this takes place, they are promoting their mental, 
as well as their physical health and well-being. The 
accuracy of this remark is perhaps more conspicuous, 
although not more real, in the less boisterous and 
more placid employment of the young. The lively 
prattle of the girl, while constructing her baby-house ; 
her playful arrogation of authority and command 
over her playmates, and her serio-comic administer- 
ing of commendation or reproof in the assumed cha- 
racter of " mistress" or " mother," are all instances of a 
similar kind. A little attention to the matter will 
convince any one, that every sentence uttered by a 
child while dressing a doll, or rigging a ship, or 
cutting a stick, is really intended and employed by 
Nature in advancing this great object. And we can- 
not help remarking, that the irksome silence so fre- 
quently enjoined upon children during their play, or 
during any species of active employment, is not only 
harsh and unnecessary, but is positively hurtful. It 
is in direct opposition both to the design and the 
practice of Nature. It is obstructing, or at least 
neglecting the cultivation and the developement 
of powers, which are destined to be a chief ornament 



136 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

of life ; a source of honour and enjoyment to the pupil 
himself, and ultimately a great benefit to society. 

The cultivation of this faculty in adults, after they 
have emancipated themselves from the discipline of 
Nature, is advanced or retarded by the use or neglect 
of similar means. Accordingly we find, that in every 
instance where the povvers of the mind are actively, 
(not mechanically) employed, while the individual is 
at the same time called on to exercise his powers of 
speech and hearing on something else, this faculty 
of extemporaneous speaking is cultivated, and ren- 
dered more easy and fluent. \¥hereas, on the contrary, 
the most extensive acquaintance with words, even 
when combined with much knowledge, has but little 
influence in making a ready speaker. Many of the 
the most voluble of our species have but a very 
scanty vocabulary, and still less knowledge ; while 
men of extensive and profound learning, whose habits 
have been formed in the study, are often defective 
even in common conversation, and utterly unable to 
undertake with success the task of public extempo- 
raneous speaking. From this cause it is, ihat some 
of our ablest men, and our greatest scholars, are ne- 
cessitated to read that which they dare not trust 
themselves to speak ; while others, by a different 
practice, and perhaps with fewer real attainments, 
feel no difliculty in arranging their ideas, and deliver- 
ing them at the same time with ease and fluency. 
Hence it is also, that travelling, frequent intercourse 
with strangers, debating societies, and above all, 
forensic pleadings, sharpen the faculties, and give an 
ease and accuracy in thinking and speaking, which are 
but rarely acquired in the same degree in any other 
way. 

There is one particular feature in this department 
of Nature's teaching, which is of so much importance 
both to the young and to adults, that it ought not to 
be passed over without notice. It is the important 
fact, that the highest attainments in this valuable 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 137 

accomplishment are within the reach of almost every 
individual pupil, by a very moderate diligence in the 
use of the proper means. The counterpart of this is 
equally true; for without culture, either regular or 
accidental, no portion of it can ever be acquired. 
This is abundantly proved both by experience and 
analogy. Experience has shewn, that in every case, 
perseverance alone, often without system, has made 
great and powerful speakers ; and the analogy between 
the expression of our feelings by words and by music^ 
shews what proper training may do in both cases. 
Every one will admit that it is easier to give expres- 
sion to our feelings by the natural organs of speech, 
ihan by the mechanical use of a musical instrument ; 
and if by making use of the proper means, and with 
a moderate degree of diligence and perseverance, 
every man can be trained to play dexterously on the 
violin, or the organ, and at the same moment main- 
tain a perfect command over the operations of his 
mind, — we may reasonably conclude, from analogy, 
that with an equal, or even a smaller degree of diligence, 
when the means have been equally systematized, the 
most humble individual may be trained to manage the 
operations of his mind, while he is otherwise making 
use of his tongue, as the other is of his Jingers. 

But the opposite of this, as we have stated above, 
is equally true. For, although a man may, by dili- 
gence and perseverance, attain a high degree of per- 
fection in the exercise of this faculty ; yet, even the 
lowest must be procured by the use of means. The 
art of thinking and speaking different ideas at the 
same time, as we have proved, is not an instinctive, 
but is wholly an acquired faculty, and must be at- 
tained by exercise wherever it is possessed. We have 
instanced as examples the case of the girl having at 
first to stop while dressing her doll, and the boy 
while rigging his ship ; but what we wish to notice 
here is, that the principle is not peculiar to children, 
whose ideas are few> and whose language is imper- 
u3 



138 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

feet, but applies equally to adults, even of superior 
attainments, and well cultivated minds. We have 
in part proved this by the frequent defects of even 
learned men in conversation ; but there is good rea- 
son to conclude^, that even these defects would have 
been greater, if the few opportunities they have im- 
proved had been less numerous. In short, it appears, 
that the successful uttering of but two consecutive 
words, while the mind is otherwise engaged, must be 
acquired even in the adult, by education or by dis- 
cipline. This important fact in education, might 
be demonstrated by numerous proofs, deduced from 
acts which are commonly understood to depend al- 
together on habit, and where the mind is obvious- 
ly but little engaged. We shall take the case 
already supposed, that of the fingering of musi- 
cal instruments. The rapidity with which the fin- 
gers in this exercise perform their oliice, would lead 
us to pronounce it to be purely mechanical, and to 
suppose that the mind was at perfect liberty to attend 
to any of the other functions of the body, during the 
performance. But this is not the case ; for although 
by long practice, the operator has acquired the art of 
timi king upon various other subjects while playing, he 
finds upon a first trial, that he is then totally unable to 
articulate two words in succession. Here then is a case 
exactly parallel with that of the children who had to 
stop to speak during their play ; proving that it does 
not arise from the lack of ideas, or a deficiency in 
words, but purely from want of discipline and prac- 
tice ; because many musicians by practice, and by 
practice alone, overcome the difficulty, and become 
able both to speak and to play at the same time. 

There is another circumstance connected with this 
part of our subject, which is worthy of remark. A 
person who is playing on an instrument, and who is 
desirous to speak, finds himself, without long practice, 
totally unable to do so ; but he may, if he pleases, 
sing what he has to say, provided only that he mo- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 139 

dulate his voice to the tune he is playing. The 
reason of this appears to be two-fold ; first, that the 
mind, by following the tune in the articulation of the 
words, is relieved in a great measure from doing 
double duty ; and secondly, and chiefly, because the 
person has already acquired, by more or less practice, 
the faculty of singing and playing at the same time. 
From this illustration, we perceive the necessity that 
exists in education, of cultivating in the young, by 
direct means and special exercises, this important 
faculty of managing the thoughts and giving expres- 
sion to them at the same moment. It must be ac- 
quired by a course of mental discipline, which brings 
all the elements of the principle into operation; the 
collecting and managing of ideas, the chusing and ar- 
ranging of words, and the giving of them utterance, 
at the same time. That direct exercises of this 
kind are necessary for the purpose, is obvious from 
the illustrations here given ; where we find, that al- 
though a person, while playing on an instrument? 
may sing his words, he is yet unable to make the 
slightest deviation from singing to speaking, without a 
long and laborious practice. 

Here then we have been enabled to trace this sup- 
plementary process of Nature in the education of her 
pupils, and to detect the great leading principle or 
law, by which it is governed. The attainment itself 
is the ready and fluent communication of our ideas to 
others ; and the mode employed by nature for arriving 
at it, appears to be the training of her pupils to exercise 
their minds upon one set of ideas, while they are giving 
expression to another. That the mind is actually en- 
gaged in two different ways, at the same moment of 
time, it is not necessary for us to suppose. It is suf- 
ficient for our purpose, that the operations so rapidly 
succeed each other, as to appear to do so. The abi- 
lity to accomplish this, we have proved to be in every 
case an acquired habit, and is never possessed, even in 
the smallest degree, without effort. It is, in fact, the 



140 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

invariable result of exercise and education. The 
most gifted of our species are frequently destitute of it ; 
while very feeble minds have been found to possess 
it, when by chance or design they have employed the 
proper means for its attainment. What is wanted by 
the Educationist therefore? is an exercise, or series of 
exercises, which will enable him to imitate Nature, 
by causing his pupil to employ his mind in preparing 
one set of ideas, while he is giving expression to 
another. Such an exercise, upon whatever subject, 
will alwaj^s produce, in a greater or less degree, the 
effect which Nature by this supplementary process 
intends to accomplish ; that of giving the pupil ease 
and fluency in conversation, and a ready faculty of 
delivering his sentiments ; while we have seen, by 
numerous illustrations, that it is at least highly im- 
probable that it ever can be acquired in any other 
way. We have also demonstrated the impropriety of 
all unnecessary artificial restrictions upon children 
while at their play, and of preventing their speaking, 
calling out, and giving orders, encouragement? or com- 
mendation to their companions during it. These il- 
lustrations and examples have also pointed out to us 
the importance of encouraging the young to speak or 
converse with their teachers or one another, while 
they are actively employed at work, in their amuse- 
ments, or in any other way in which the mind is but 
partially engaged. Exercises of this kind in the do- 
mestic circle, where they could be more frequently 
resorted to, would be of great value in forwarding 
the mental capacities of the young, and might be at 
least equally and extensively useful, as similar exer- 
cises employed in the school. The consideration of 
suitable exercises for advancing these ends, by which 
Nature may be successfully imitated in this important 
part of her process, belongs to another department of 
this Treatise, to which accordingly we must refer. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 141 



CHAP. XII. 

Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles 
developed in the premous Chapters. 

Before proceeding to the third and more practical 
part of this Treatise, it will be of advantage here, short- 
ly to review the progress we have made in establishing 
the several educational principles, exhibited in the 
operations of Nature, as it is upon these that the 
following practical recommendations are to be entirely 
founded. In doing this, we would wash to press upon 
the attention of the reader the important considera- 
tion, that however much w^e may fail in what is to 
follow, the principles which we have already ascer- 
tained^ must still remain as stationary landmarks in 
education, at which all future advances, by whom- 
soever made, must infallibly set out. The pre- 
vious chapters, therefore, in so far as they have 
given a correct exposition of Nature's modes of 
teaching, must constitute something like the model 
upon which all her future imitators in education 
will have to work. There may be a change of order, 
and a change of names^ but the principles themselves, 
in so far as they have been discovered, will for ever 
remain unchanged and unchangeable. — It is very 
different, however, w^ith w^hat is to follow., in which we 
are to make some attempts at imitation. The principles 
which regulate the rapid movements of fish through 
water is one thing ; and the attempt to imitate these 
principles by the ship-builder is quite another thing. 
The first, wdien correctly ascertained, remain the 
unalterable standard for every future naval architect ; 
but the attempts at imitation will change and improve, 
as long as the minds of men are directed to the per- 
fecting of ship-building. In like manner, the various 
facts in the educational processes of Nature, in so far 
as they have been correctly ascertained in the previous 



142 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

part of this Treatise, must form the unalterable basis 
for every future improvement in education. These 
facts, or principles, will very probably be found to 
form only a part of her operations ; — but as they do 
really form a part^ they will become a nucleus, round 
which all the remaining principles when discovered 
will necessarily congregate. We shall here therefore 
endeavour very shortly to recapitulate the several 
principles or laws employed by Nature in her acade- 
my, so far as we have been able to detect them ; as it 
must be upon these that not only we, but all our suc- 
cessors in the improvementof education, must hereafter 
proceed. 

We have seen in a former chapter, that the educa- 
tional processes of Nature divide themselves distinctly 
into four different kinds. Firsts the cultivation of 
the powers of the mind : — Second, the acquisition of 
knowledge : — Third, the uses or application of that 
knowledge to the daily varying circumstances of the 
pupil: — and Fourth, the ability to communicate this 
knowledge and experience to others. 

The.^V^if department of Nature's teaching, that of 
cultivating the powers of her pupiPs mind, we found 
to depend chiefly, if not entirely, upon one simple 
mental operation, that of " reiterating ideas ;*" and 
from numerous examples and experiments it has been 
shewn, that wherever this act of the mind takes place, 
there is, and there must be, mental culture ; while, 
on the contrary, wherever it does not take place, there 
is not, so far as we can yet perceive, the slighest in- 
dication that the mind has either been exercised or 
benefited. 

The second department of Nature's teaching, we 
have seen, consists in inducing and assisting her pu- 
pils to acquire knowledge* — This object we found 
her accomplishing by means of four distinct princi- 
ples, which she brings into operation in regular or- 
der, according to the age and mental capacity of the 
pupil. These we have named the principle of " Per- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION'. 143 

ception and Reiteration/' which is the same as that 
employed in her first process; — the principle which 
we have named " Individuation,'" which always pre- 
cedes and prepares for the two following ; — there is 
then the principle of " Association,"" or '' Grouping," 
by which the imagination is cultivated, and the 
memory is assisted ; — and there is, lastly, the principle 
of "Classification,'" or "Analysis,"" by which all know- 
ledge when received is regularly classified according to 
its nature; by which means the memory is relieved, 
the whole is kept in due order, and remains constantly 
at the command of the will. — These four principles, 
so far as we have yet been able to investigate the 
processes of Nature, are the chief, if not the onlv, 
means which she employs in assisting and inducing 
the pupil to acquire knowledge ; and which of course 
ought to be employed in a similar way, and in the 
same order, by the teacher in the management of his 
classes. 

The thirds and by far the most important series of 
exercises in Nature's academy, we have ascertained, 
by extensive evidence, to be the training of her pu- 
pils to a constant practical application of their know- 
ledge to the ordinary affairs of life. — These exercises 
she has separated into two distinct classes ; the one 
connected with the physical and intellectual pheno- 
mena of our nature, and which is regulated by what 
we have termed the " animal, or common sense ;"" 
and the other connected with our moral nature, and 
regulated by our " moral sense,'" or conscience. In 
both of these departments, however, the methods 
which Nature employs in guiding to the practical 
application of the pupiPs knowledge are precisely the 
same, consisting of a regular gradation of three dis- 
tinct steps.; or stages. These steps we have found 
to follow each other in the following order. There is 
always first, some fundamental truth, or idea — some 
definite part of our knowledge of which use is to be 
made ; — there is next an inference, or lesson, drawn 



141* PRACTICAL ENQUIllY INTO 

from that idea, or truth ; — and there is, lastly, a prac- 
tical application of that lesson, or inference, to the 
present circumstances of the individual. This part 
of Nature's educational process, — this application, or 
use of knowledge, we have ascertained and proved to 
be the great object which Nature designs by all her 
previous efforts. This part of her work, when com- 
pleted, forms in fact the great Temple of Education, 
— all the others were but the scaifolding by which it was 
to be reared. — This is the end ; those were but means 
employed for attaining it. In proof of this impor- 
tant fact we have seen, that when this object is suc- 
cessfully gained, ail the previous steps have been 
homologated and confirmed ; whereas, whenever this 
crowning operation is awanting, all the preceding la- 
bour of the pupil becomes useless and vain, his 
knowledge gradually melts from the memory, and is 
ultimately lost. 

The fourth, or supplementary process in this edu- 
cational course as conducted by Nature, we found to 
consist in the training of her pupils to an ability to 
communicate with ease and fluency to others the 
knowledge and experience which they themselves had 
acquired. — This ability, as we have shewn, is not in- 
stinctive, but is in every intance the result of educa- 
tion. It is not always the accompaniment of great 
mental capacity ; nor is it always at the command of 
those who have acquired extensive knowledge. Persons 
highly gifted in both respects, are often greatly deficient 
in readiness of utterance, and freedom of speech. On 
careful investigation we have seen, that it is attained 
only by practice, and by one simple exercise of the 
mental powers, in which the thoughts are engaged 
with one set of ideas, at the same moment that the 
voice is giving expression to others. This faculty 
has been found to be eminently social and benevo- 
lent, and intended, not so much for the benefit of the 
individual himself as for the benefit of society. Na- 
ture, accordingly, constrains mankind to do homage 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 145 

to eloquence when it is employed for others, or 
for the public ; — but strongly induces them to 
look with pity or contempt on the person who is al- 
ways speaking of or for himself. These facts ac- 
cordingly have led us to the important conclusion, 
that learning and the possession of knowledge are 
not intended merely for the person himself, but 
for the good of society ; and therefore, that educa- 
tion in every community ought to be conducted in 
such a manner, that the attainments of each indivi- 
dual in it, shall either directly or indirectly benefit 
the whole. 

In these several departments of our mental consti- 
tution, and in the principles or laws by which they 
are carried on, we have the great thoroughfare, — the 
highway of education, — marked out, inclosed, and 
levelled by Nature herself. Hitherto, in our exa- 
mination of the several processes in which we find 
her engaged, we have endeavoured strictly to confine 
ourselves to the great general principles which she ex- 
hibits in forwarding and perfecting them. We have 
not touched as yet on the methods by which, in our 
schools, they may be successfully imitated ; nor have 
we made any enquiry into the particular truths or 
subjects which ought there to be taught. These 
matters belong to another part of this Treatise, and 
will be considered by themselves. And it is only 
necessary here to observe, that as it is the use of 
knowledge chiefly which Nature labours to attain, 
it is therefore useful knowledge which she requires 
to be taught. This is a principle so prominently 
held forth by Nature^ and so repeatedly indicated 
and enforced, that in the school it ought never for 
an hour to be lost sight of. The whole business of 
the seminary must be practical ; and the knowledge 
communicated must be useful, and such as can be 
put to use. If this rule be attended to, the know- 
ledge communicated will be valuable and permanent ; 
—but if it be neglected, the pretended communica- 

N 



146 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

tions will soon melt from the memory, and the pre- 
vious labours of both teacher and pupil will be in a 
great measure lost. 

The existence of these several principles in educa- 
tion has been ascertained by long experience and 
slow degrees; — and the accuracy of the views which 
we have taken of them, has been rigorously and re- 
peatedly tested. No pains has been spared in pro- 
jecting and conducting such experiments as appeared 
necessary for the purpose ; and it has been by ex- 
perience and experiment alone that their efficiency has 
been established. Many of these experiments were 
conducted in public, — some of them have for years 
been in circulation, — and the decisiveness of their 
results has never been questioned. The several 
principles in education which it was the object of these 
experiments to ascertain, are here for the first time, 
collected and exhibited in their natural order ; and 
they are now presented to the friends of education with 
some degree of confidence. Judging historically, 
however, from the experience of others in breaking 
lip new ground in the sciences, there is good reason 
to believe, that the present Treatise goes but a short 
way in establishing the science of education. There 
is yet much to be done ; and others, no doubt, will 
follow to complete it. But if confidence is to be 
placed in history, it appears evident, that they must 
follow in the same course, if ever they are to succeeds 
Nature is our only instructress ; and however much 
she may have hitherto been neglected, it is only by 
following her leadings with a child-like docihty, that 
improvement is ever to be expected. By so following, 
however, success is certain. The prospects of the 
science at the present moment, both as to its spread 
and its improvement, are exceedingly cheering. The 
field, which is now being opened up for the labours 
of the Educationist, is extensive and inviting ; and 
the anticipations of the philanthropist become the 
more dehghtful, on account of the improvements 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 147 

likely to ensue for carrying on the work. The 
errors and failings of former attempts will warn, 
while every new discovery will direct in the labour. 
The virgin soil has even yet in a great measure to 
be broken up ; and if we shall be wise enough to 
employ the implements provided for us by Nature 
herself, the present generation may yet witness a 
rapid and abundant ingathering of blessings for the 
world. This is neither a hasty nor a groundless 
speculation. There are already abundant proofs to 
warrant us in cherishing it. Numerous patches of 
ground have again and again, under serious disad- 
vantages, been partially cultivated ; and each and 
all have invariably succeeded, and produced the first 
fruits of a ripe, a rich, and an increasing harvest. 



148 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 



PART III. 

ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL 
PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE SUCCESSFULLY 
IMITATED. 



CHAP. I. 

On the Eooercises by which Nafmre may he imitated 
in cultivating the Powers of the Mind. 

In the educational processes of Nature, her first 
object appears to be the cultivation of her pupil's 
mind ; and this, therefore, ought also to be the first 
concern of the parent and teacher. — The wisdom of 
this arrangement is obvious. For as success in a 
great measure depends upon the vigour and extent of 
those powers, their early cultivation will render the 
succeeding exercises easy and pleasant, and will 
greatly abridge the anxiety and labour of both teach- 
er and scholar. 

There is no doubt a great diversity in the natural 
capacities of children ; and phrenology, as well as 
daily experience shews, that children who are apt in 
learning one thing, may be exceedingly dull and back- 
ward in acquiring others. But after making every 
allowance for this variety in the intellectual powers 
of children, it is well established by experience, and 
repeated experiments have confirmed the fact,* that 
the very dullest and most obtuse of the children 
found in any of our schools, are really capable of 
rapid cultivation, and may, by the use of proper 



* See the Fifth Public Experiment in Education, conducted 
before Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, and the clergy and teachers of 
Dumfries, in the month of October 1833. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 149 

means, be very soon brought to bear their part in 
the usual exercises fitted for the ordinary children. 
A large proportion of the dulness so frequently com- 
plained of by teachers arises, not so much from any 
natural defect, or inherent mental weakness in the 
child, as from the want of that early mental exercise, 
— real mental culture, — of which we are here speak- 
ing. Whenever this dulness in a sane scholar con- 
tinues for any length of time, there is good reason to 
fear that it is owing to some palpable mismanagement 
on the part of the parent or teacher. On examina- 
tion it will most likely be found, either that the pupil 
has had exercises prescribed to him which the powers 
of his mind were as yet incapable of accomplishing ; 
or, if the exercises themselves have been suitable, 
there has been more prescribed than he was able to 
overtake. In either case the effect will be the 
same. The mind has been unnaturally burdened, 
or overstretched ; confusion of ideas and mental weak- 
ness have been the consequence ; and if so, the very 
attempt to keep up with his companions in the class 
only tends to aggravate the evil. Hence arises the 
propriety of following Nature in making the expan- 
sion and cultivation of the powers of the mind our 
first object ; and our design in the present chapter 
is to examine into the means by which, in the exer- 
cises of the school, she may be successfully imitated 
in the operations which she employs for this purpose. 
We have in our previous investigations seen, that 
the cultivation of the mental powers is a work of 
extraordinary simplicity, depending entirely upon 
one act of the mind, — the reiteration of ideas. We 
have proved, by a variety of familiar instances, that 
wherever this act takes place, the mind is, and must 
be exercised, and so far strengthened ; while, on the 
contrary, wherever it does not take place, there is 
neither mental exercise, nor any perceptible accession 
of mental strength. It does not depend upon the 
particular form of the exercise, whether it consists of 
n3 



150 PRACTICAL E>^QUIRY INTO 

reading, bearing, writing, or speaking ; but simply 
and entirely upon the reality and the frequency of 
the reiteration of the included ideas during it. This 
makes the cultivation and strengthening of the powers 
of the mind a very simple and a very certain opera- 
tion. For if the teacher can succeed by any means in 
producing frequent and successive repetitions of this 
act of the mind in any of his pupils, Nature will be 
true to her own law, and mental culture, and mental 
strength will assuredly follow ; — but, on the contrary, 
whenever in a school exercise this act is awanting, 
there can be no permanent progression in the educa- 
of the pupil, and no amelioration in the state of his 
mind. The mechanical reading or repeating of words, 
for example, like the fingering of musical instruments, 
may be performed for months or years successively, 
without the powers of the mind being actively en- 
gaged in the process at all ; leaving the child with- 
out mental exercise, and consequently without im- 
provement. 

In following out the only legitimate plan for the 
accomplishment of this fundamental object, that of 
imitating Nature, the first thing required by the 
teacher is an exercise, or series of exercises, by which 
he shall be able at his own tvill to enforce upon his 
pupils this important act of the mind. If this object 
can be successfully attained, then the proper means 
for the intellectual improvement of the child are se- 
cured ; but as long as it is awanting, his mental cul- 
tivation is either left to chance, or to the capricious 
decision of his own will ; — for experience shews, that 
although a child may be compelled to read, or to 
repeat the words of bis exercises, they contain no power 
by which the teacher can ensure the reiteration of 
the ideas they contain. The words may correctly 
and fluently pass from the tongue, while the mind is 
actively engaged upon something else, and as much 
beyond the reach of the teacher as ever. But if the 
desiderated exercise could be procured^ the power of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 151 

enforcing mental activity upon a prescribed subject 
would then remain, not in the possession of the child, 
but would be transferred to the teacher, at whose 
pleasure the mental cultivation of the pupil would 
proceed, whether he himself willed it or no. 

In the " catechetical exercise,'' as it has been called, 
and which has of late years been extensively used 
bv our best teachers, the desideratum above de- 
scribed has been most happily and effectively supplied 
to the Educationist. This valuable exercise may 
not perhaps be new ; — but certainly its nature, and its 
importance in education, till of late years, has been 
altogether overlooked, or unknown. It differs from 
the former mode of catechising, (or rather of using 
catechisms) in this, that whereas a catechism pro- 
vides an answer for the child in a set form of words, 
— the catechetical exercise, having first provided him 
with the means^ compels him to search for, to select, 
and to construct an answer for himself. For ex- 
ample? an announcement is given by his teacher, or 
it is read from his book. This is the raw material 
upon which both the teacher and the child are to 
work, and within the boundaries of which the teacher 
especially must strictly confine himself. Upon this 
announcement a question is founded,* which obliges 
the child, before he can even prepare an answer, to 
reiterate in his own mind, not the words, — for that 
would not answer his purpose, — but the several ideas 
contained in the sentence or truth announced. All 
these ideas must be perceived, — they must pass in 
review before the mind, — and from among them he 
must select the one required, arrange it in his own 
way, and give it to the teacher entirely as his own 
idea, and clothed altogether in his own words. 

In the common method of making use of cate- 
chisms, the words of the answer may be read, or they 
may be committed to memory, and may be repeated 

* Note K. 



152 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

with ease and fluency ; while the ideas, — the truths 
they contain, — may neither be perceived nor reiterat- 
ed. In this there is neither mental exercise, nor 
mental improvement; — and, what is worse, without 
the catechetical exercise, the teacher has no means of 
knowing whether it be so or not. By means of the 
catechetical exercise, on the contrary, there can be no 
evasion, — no doubt as to the mental activity of the 
pupil, and his consequent mental improvement. Its 
benefits are very extensive ; and in ^ employing it the 
teacher is not only sure that the ideas in the an- 
nouncement have been perceived and reiterated, but 
that a numerous train of useful mental operations 
must have taken place, before his pupil could by any 
possibility return him an answer to his questions. We 
shall, before proceeding, point out a few of these. 

Let us then suppose that a chiJd either reads, or 
repeats as the answer to a question, the words, " Jes- 
sus died for sinners." — At this point in the former 
mode of using a catechism, the exercise of the pupil 
stopped ; and the parent or teacher understanding 
the meaning of the sentence, and clearly perceiving 
the ideas himself, usually took it for granted that 
the child also did so, or at least at some future 
time would do so. This was mere conjecture; and 
he had no means of ascertaining its certainty, however 
important. It is at this point that the catechetical 
exercise commences its operations. When the child 
has repeated the words, or when the teacher for the 
first time announces them, the mind of the child may 
be in a state very unfavourable to its improvement ; 
but as soon as the teacher asks him a question founded 
upon one or more of the ideas which the announcement 
contains, and which he must answer without farther 
help, the state of his mind is instantly and materially 
changed. Hitherto he may have been altogether pas- 
sive on the subject ; — nay, his mind while reading or 
repeating the words, may have been busily engaged 
on something else, or altogether occupied with his com» 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 153 

panions or his play ; — but as soon as the teacher asks 
him "• Who died ?" there is an instant withdrawal of 
the mind from every thing else, and an exclusive con- 
centration of its powers npon the ideas in the an- 
nouncement. He must think, — and he must think 
in a certain way, and upon the specific ideas present- 
ed to him by the teacher, — before it is possible for 
him to return an answer. It is on this account that 
this exercise is so effective an instrument in cultivat- 
ing the powers of the mind ; — and it is to the long 
series of exercises which take place in this operation^ 
that we are now calling the attention of the reader, 
that he may perceive how closely this exercise follows 
in the line prescribed by Nature, in creating occasions 
for the successive reiteration of different ideas suggest- 
ed by one question. 

When, in pursuing the catechetical exercise, a ques- 
tion is asked from an announcement, there is first a 
call upon the attention, and an exercise of mind up- 
on the question asked, the words of which must be 
translated by the pupil into their proper ideas, which 
accordingly he must both perceive and understand. 
He has then to revert to the ideas (not the words) 
contained in the original announcement, the words of 
which are perhaps still ringing in his ears ; and these 
he must also perceive and reiterate in his mind, be- 
fore he can either understand them or prepare to give 
an answer. At this point the child is necessarily in 
possession of the ideas — the truths — conveyed by the 
announcement ; and therefore at this point one great 
end of the teacher has in so far been gained. But 
the full benefit of the exercise, in so far as it is cap- 
able of fixing these truths still more permanently on 
the memory, and of disciplining the mind, has not yet 
been exhausted. After the pupil has reiterated in 
his mind the ideas contained in the original sentence, 
or passage announced, he has again to revert to the 
question of the teacher, and compare it with the 
several ideas which the announcement contains. He 



154 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

bas then to chuse from among them, — all of them be- 
ing still held in review by the mind,- — the particular 
idea to which his attention has been called by the 
question ; — and last of all, and which is by no means 
the least as a mental exercise, he has to clothe this 
particular idea in words, and construct his sentence in 
such a way as to make it both sense and grammar. 
In this last effort, it is worthy of remark, children, 
after having been but a short while subjected to this 
exercise, almost invariably succeed, although they 
know nothing about grammar, and may perhaps never 
have heard of the name. 

But even this is not all. There has as yet been 
only one question asked, and the answer to this ques- 
tion refers to only one idea contained in the an- 
nouncement. But it embraces at least three several 
ideas ; and each of these ideas, by the catechetical 
exercise, is capable of originating other questions, 
perfectly distinct from each other, and each of which 
gives rise to a similar mental process, and with 
equally beneficial results, in exercising and strength- 
ening the powers of the mind. 

It is also here of importance to take notice of the 
additional benefits that arise fiom the multiplying of 
questions upon one announcement. The first question 
proposed from the announcement, brought the mind 
of the child into immediate contact with all the ideas 
which it contained. They are now therefore familiar 
to him ; and he is perfectly prepared for the second, 
and for every succeeding question formed upon it; 
and he fashions the answers with readiness and zest. 
Every such answer is a kind of triumph to the child, 
which he gives with ease and pleasure, and yet every 
one of them, as an exercise of the mind, is equally 
beneficial as the first. When the teacher therefore 
asks, «' What did Jesus do ?"' and afterwards, " For 
whom did Jesus die ?'''' a little reflection will at once 
shew, that a similar mental exercise must take place 
at each question, in which the child has not only to 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 155 

reiterate the several original ideas, but must again 
and again compare the questions asked, with each 
one of them, choose out the one required, clothe it 
in his own language, and in this form repeat it audi- 
bly to his teacher. 

Before leaving this enquiry into the nature and. 
effects of the catechetical exercise, there are two cir- 
cumstances connected with it as a school-engine, 
which deserve particular attention. The first is, that 
Nature has made this same reiteration of ideas, for 
the securing of which this exercise is used, the chief 
means of conveying knowledge to the mind ; and 
the second is, the undissembled delight which chil- 
dren exhibit while under its influence, wherever it 
is naturally and judiciously conducted. With re- 
spect to the former of these circumstances, it falls 
more particularly to be considered in another chap- 
ter, and under a following head ; but with respect 
to the latter, — the delight felt in the exercise by the 
children themselves, — it deserves here a more close 
examination. 

Every one who has paid any attention to the sub- 
ject must have observed the hfe, the energy, the en- 
joyment, which are observable in a class of children, 
while they are under the influence, and subjected to 
the discipline of the catechetical exercise. This wall 
perhaps be still more remarkable, if ever they have 
had an opportunity of contrasting this lively scene 
with the death-like monotony of a school where the 
exercise is as yet unknown. Many can yet remem- 
ber instances when it was first introduced into some 
of the Sabbath schools in Scotland, and the astonish- 
ment of the teachers at its instantaneous effects upon 
the mind and conduct of their children. The whole 
aspect of the school was changed ; and the children, 
who had but a few minutes before been conspicuous 
only for their apathy, restlessness, or inattention, 
were instantly aroused to life, and energy, and de- 
light. Similar effects in some children are still wit- 



156 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

nessed ; but, happily for education, the first exhibi- 
tion of it to a whole school is not so common. One 
striking proof of the novelty and extent of its effects 
upon the pupils, and of the vivid contrast it produced 
with that to which the teachers had at that time 
been accustomed, is afforded by the fact, that serious 
objections were sometimes made to its introduction, 
by well-meaning individuals, on account of its break- 
ing in, as they said, upon the proper devotional so- 
lemnity of the children ; — as if the apathy of languor 
and weariness was identical with reverence, and men- 
tal energy and joyous feelings were incompatible with 
the liveliest devotion. These opinions have now 
happily disappeared ; and the catechetical exercise is 
not now, on that account, so frequently opposed. 
Christians now perceive, that by making these rough 
places smooth, and the crooked ways straight for the 
tottering feet of the lambs of the flock, they are 
following the best, as it is the appointed means, of 
" making ready a people prepared for the Lord." 

To the teacher, especially, it must be a matter of 
great practical importance, to perceive clearly the 
cause why this exercise is so fascinating to the young> 
as well as so beneficial in education. The cause, 
when we analyze all the circumstances, is simply this, 
that it resembles, in all its leading characteristics, 
those amusements and pastimes of which children are 
so fond. In other words, the prosecution of the ca- 
techetical exercise with the young, produces in rea- 
lity the same effects as a game would do if played 
with their teacher. It brings into action, and it 
keeps in lively operation, all those mental elements, 
which, in ordinary cases, constitute their play ; and 
the effects of course are nearly similar. We shall 
direct the reader's attention to this curious fact for a 
moment. 

It is easy to perceive, that the pleasure and happi- 
ness experienced by a child during his play, arise 
altogether from the state of his mind^ to which the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OP EDUCATION. 157 

physical exercises and amusements only conduce. 
When this mental satisfaction is examined, we find 
it to consist chiefly of two elements, — that of active 
thought,and that of self- approbation. The first, — that 
of active thought, or the reiteration of ideas, we have 
before pointed out and explained, as it is illustrated 
in their play, and in the pleasure they take in hearing 
stories, reading riddles, dressing dolls, and similar 
acts ; and it is only here necessary to add, that their 
desire of congregating together for amusement has its 
origin in a similar cause. New ideas stimulate more 
powerfully to active thought ; and children soon find, 
^nd insensibly draw the lesson, that the aggregate of 
new ideas is always enlarged by an increase of the 
number of persons who supply them. Two children 
will play with the same number of toys for a longer 
time, without tiring, than if they were alone ; — and 
three or four would, in the same proportion, in- 
crease the interest and prolong the season of activity. 
But as soon as the reiteration of the ideas suggested 
by their game becomes languid or difficult, their 
play for the time loses its charms, and the fascination 
is gone. That it is the cessation of active thought, 
which is the chief cause of their play ceasing to 
please, is proved from the circumstance, that if ano- 
ther interesting companion shall be added to their 
number, or if any thing shall occur to renew this 
operation, — the reiteration of ideas, — upon the mind, 
the same degree of interest, and to a corresponding 
extent, is immediately felt, and the play is resumed. 
Now, the catechetical exercise is in reality the same 
operation in another form. The questions of the 
teacher excite the pupil to the same kind of active 
thought as that which gives relish to his play ; and, 
while the teacher confines himself within the limits 
of the announcement, the mental excitement is active, 
but moderate, and always successful. 

This leads us to observe the influence which the 
catechetical exercise exerts in affording means for 

o 



158 PRACTICAL ENaOIRY INTO 

that self-approbation, or sense of merit, which con- 
stitutes another element of delight to a child during 
his play. All must have observed the beneficial ef- 
fects of this principle in children, as an incitement to 
emulation and good conduct. It is not only percep- 
tible in the love of approbation from their superiors, 
but in their desire to excel at all times. We see it 
in the pleasure felt by the child when he outstrips 
his fellows in the race, — when he catches his com- 
panion at " hide and seek," — -when he finds the hid- 
den article at " seek and find,"" — in winning a game, 
expounding a riddle, or gaining a place in his class. 
In all these instances there is a feeling of pure satis- 
faction and delight ; — a feeling of self-estimation, 
which is at once the guardian and the reward of 
virtue. Now, when the catechetical exercise is con- 
ducted in its purity, — that is, when the teacher keeps 
strictly to the announcement, without wandering 
where the child cannot follow him, — the answers are 
invariably within the limits of the child's capacity ; — 
they are answered successfully ; and every answer is 
a subject of triumph. He has a delightful conscious- 
ness of having overcome a difficulty, deserved ap- 
probation, and made an advance in the pathway 
of merit. When properly conducted, therefore, the 
catechetical exercise becomes to the pupils a succes- 
sion of victories ; and it imparts all that delight, soft- 
ened and purified, which he experiences in excelling 
his companion, or in winning a game.^ — These are 
the reasons why the catechetical exercise is so much 
relished by the young, and why it has succeeded so 
powerfully, not only in smoothing the pathway of 
education, but also in shortening it. 

From a careful consideration of all these circum- 
stances, we are led to conclude, that the catechetical 
exercise does, in a superior degree, fulfil all the stipu- 
lations required for imitating Nature, in exciting to 
the reiteration of ideas by children, and thus disci- 
plining and cultivating the powers of their minds. We 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 159 

might also have remarked, that another advantage 
arising from persevering in this exercise, is the ar- 
resting of the attention of the children, and success- 
fully training them to hear and understand through 
life the oral communications of others; — but we 
hasten to consider the time and the order in which 
this exercise should be made use of in schools. 

Nature intends, that the cultivation and strength- 
ening of the powers of the mind shall in every case 
precede those exercises in which their strength is to 
be tried. In infants and young children we perceive 
this cultivation and invigorating of the mind going 
on, long before these powers are to be taxed even for 
their own preservation. The child is no doubt put- 
ting them to use ; but in every such case it is volun- 
tary, and not compulsory, — a matter of choice on the 
part of the child, and not of necessity. The infant, 
or even the child, is never required to take care of 
itself, to clothe itself, to wash itself, or even to feed 
itself. To require it to do so before the mind could 
comprehend the nature and the design of the parti- 
cular duty, would be both unreasonable and cruel. 
This being the case, the exercises of the nursery 
and the school must be regulated in a similar man- 
ner, and follow the same law. The due cultivation of 
the mind, like the due preparation of the soil, must al- 
ways precede the sowing of the seed. If this prin- 
ciple in Nature be duly attended to, the seeds of 
knowledge afterwards cast into the soil thus broken 
up and prepared, will be readily received and 
nourished to perfection ; but if the soil be neglected, 
both the seed and the labour will be lost, the antici- 
pations of the spring and summer will end in de. 
lusion, and the folly of the whole proceeding will be 
shewn by a succession of noxious weeds, and at last 
by an unproductive harvest. 

The evils which must necessarily result from thus run- 
ning counter to Nature in this first part of her educa- 
tional proceedings, may be aptly illustrated by the very 



IGO PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

common custom of beginning a child's education bj 
teaching it to read. It would perhaps be difficult to 
convince many that this custom is either unnatural 
or improper. We shall not attempt here to argue 
the matter, but shall merely state a fact which they 
cannot deny, and which will answer the purpose we 
think much better than an argument. — To teach the 
art of reading was wont to require the labour of 
several months, sometimes years? before the perusal 
of a book could he managed by the child with any de- 
gree of ease, — and even then, without any thing ap- 
proaching to satisfaction or pleasure. And even yetj 
although the error has in some measure been per- 
ceived of late years, yet the art of reading by the 
young, still requires several months' attendance at 
school, with corresponding labour to the teacher, and 
great irritation and unhappiness to the child. But 
experience has established the fact, that, by acting 
on the principle of previous preparation which we 
are here enforcing, and by calling into operation the 
principle of individuation formerly explained, the 
whole drudgery of teaching a child to read is got 
over in a week, — sometimes in a day ; and this with 
much more ease and satisfaction, than could have 
been done by a thousand lessons while his mind was 
unprepared.* 

The accumulation of labour, and the loss of pre- 
cious time by this non-observance of the dictates of 
Nature, are in themselves serious evils ; but they 
are not by any means so great as some others 
which almost invariably accompany this unnatural 
mode of proceeding with the young. Many who 
have nominally been taught to read, are still quite 
unable to understand by reading. Those who have 
heard chapters read by families in the country, 
" verse about,'' will at once understand what we here 
mean ; and even in towns and cities where news- 

• Note H. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 



161 



papers and low-priced books are more numerous and 
more tempting, it often requires long practice before 
the emancipated child can read these publications so 
readily and intelligently as they are intended to be. 
It is another, and an entirely different course of 
learning to which he subjects himself, when he la- 
bours to acquire the capacity of understanding the 
words that he reads, as readily as the words that he 
hears. Where the inducements to tliis are sufficient- 
ly powerful, the abihty is no doubt at last acquired ; 
— but where these stimulants are awanting, the diffi- 
culty of understanding by reading has by the pre- 
vious habit become so great, that reading is gradually 
disused, and at last forgotten. 

Many are at a loss to account for this ; but it is easily 
explained on the above principles. To teach a child to 
read, before his mind is capable of understanding, or 
of reiterating the ideas conveyed by the words he is 
reading, is to train him to this habit of reading me- 
chanically ; — that is, of reading without understand- 
ing. He gradually acquires the habit of pronoun- 
cing the words which he traces with the eye, while 
the mind is busily engaged upon something else ; 
in the same manner that a person acquires the 
habit of thinking, and even of speaking, while knit- 
ting a stocking, or sewing a seam. This habit 
is confirmed by constant practice ; and then, the 
difficulty of getting off the habit is all but insur- 
mountable. This difficulty will be best understood 
by the experience of those who have been dur- 
ing some time of their life compelled to abandon 
a habit after it was thoroughly confirmed ; — or by 
those who will but try the difficulty of persevering to 
do something with the left hand, which has hitherto 
been done with the right. A very little considera- 
tion will shew, that when this habit of reading me- 
chanically has once been established, it will require, 
like an improper mode of holding the pen in writing, 
ten-fold more labour and self-denial to remedy the 
o3 



162 PRACTICAL ENaUIKY INTO 

evil, than it would have taken at first to prevent 
it, by learning to do the thing properly and perfectly. 
Much therefore depends upon the early and per. 
severing use of the catechetical exercise for cultivat- 
ing a child's mind, before beginning to teach it the 
art of reading, or requiring it to make use of the 
powers of the mind on subjects which these powers 
are as yet incapable of comprehending. By proper 
preliminary exercises, the powers of the mind will be 
gradually expanded; ideas of every different kind, both 
individually and in connection with each other, will 
become familiar ; the design of language in receiving 
and communicating truth will by degrees be practi- 
cally understood ; and, by means of the catechetical 
exercise, it will be gradually and successfully practised. 
These are obviously the means by which the present 
crooked ways in the child's early progress in educa- 
tion are to be made straight, and the rough and 
difficult paths which he has had so long to tread, 
may now be made both easy and smooth.* 

The effects of the catechetical exercise, and its 
uniform beneficial results, have given sufficient evi- 
dence of its being a close imitation of Nature in this 
part of her educational process. Its success indeed 
has been invariable, even when employed by those 
who remained unconscious of the great principles by 
which that success was to be regulated. The observa- 
tions and experiments employed to ascertain in some 
measure the extent of its efficiency, have uniformly 
been satisfactory, and to a few of these we shall here 
very shortly advert. 

The first case of importance, which came under 
our notice, and to which we think it advisable to al- 
lude, is that of Mary L. who, about the year 1820, 
resided in Lady Yester's parish in Edinburgh. This 



* For the methods of employing this exercise and the books besS 
adapted for it, see Note I. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 163 

girl, when her name was taken up for the Local Sab- 
bath Schools in that parish, was about seven or eight 
years of age, and in respect to mental capacity, ap- 
peared to be little better than an idiot. She could 
not comprehend the most simple idea, if it related to 
any thing beyond the household objects which were 
daily forced upon her observation, and which had in- 
dividually become familiar to the senses ; and was 
unable to receive any instruction with the other chil- 
dren, however young. The catechetical exercise was 
adopted with her, as with the other scholars ; and 
although, for a long period, she was unable to collect 
knowledge, yet the constant discipline to which the 
powers of the mind were thus subjected, had the 
happiest effect in bringing them into tone, and at last 
giving her the command of them. The comprehend- 
ing of a simple truth when announced, became more 
and more distinct, and the answering of the corres- 
ponding questions, became gradually more correct 
and easy. At a very early period she began to re- 
lish the exercises of the school ; and although these 
occurred only on the Sundays, she continued rapidly 
to improve ; till, in the course of a few years, she was 
able to join the higher classes of the children, and 
made a respectable appearance among her compa- 
nions, at those times when they were submitted to 
examination. — When these schools were broken up, 
no stranger could have remarked any difference 
between Mary L. and an ordinary child of the same 

A similar instance occurred more recently in the 
case of two sisters, (Margaret and Mary J.) the 
condition of whose minds originally was better, al- 
though not much, than that of Mary L. At the 
respective ages of six and eight years, these sisters 
could scarcely receive or comprehend the simplest 
idea not connected with their daily ordinary affairs. 
For some years they had no more teaching, or regu- 
lar mental exercise? than two hours weekly on the 



164 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

Sundays, and during that period they were, in regard 
to mental capacity, advancing, but still nearly alike. 
The eldest (Margaret,) was then removed to another 
class, the teacher of which dedicated another evening 
during the week for the benefit of her scholars. The 
consequence of this apparently slight addition to the 
mental exercise of this girl soon became apparent ; 
and in the course of a short time, the powers of Mar- 
garet's mind not only advanced beyond those of her 
sister's, but equalled at least those of children of the 
same age, who had not enjoyed similar opportunities 
of improvement. Her sister Mary, who continued 
to enjoy only the two hours on Sunday, advanced 
proportionally in mental strength ; — and before she 
left the district in which the school was situated, her 
original incapacity could scarcely have been credited 
by a stranger. In proof of this, it may be added, 
that long after she had left the parish, the writer 
found her by accident in the school which she attended 
after removing, examined her with the other chil- 
dren, and made some strict and searching enquiries 
concerning her. The report of her teacher was ex- 
ceedingly satisfactory ; and, without knowing the rea- 
son of these enquiries, declared, that Mary J. was 
one of her best scholars. Before leaving this notice 
of these two children, there is a circumstance which 
may perhaps be worthy of recording. In Margaret's 
countenance there had gradually appeared, latterly, 
that which to a stranger gave all the ordinary indi- 
cations of intellect, and rather superior intelligence ; 
while in Mary's case, at the same period, there con- 
tinued to be much of that \'acancy of look, and stu- 
pid stare, indicative rather of what she was, than of 
what she had become. That also, however, was 
gradually disappearing. 

We shall advert only to one other instance, less 
remarkable perhaps, and certainly not so decisive, on 
account of the shortness of the time during which the 
experiment was continued. In the opinion of the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 165 

honourable and venerable examinators, however, it 
was considered as sufficiently decisive, and of much 
public importance. Its application to prison dis- 
cipline may ultimately be of value, where prisoners 
are confined but for short periods, and where the cul- 
tivation of the mind, and the growing capacity to 
receive and retain religious truth are objects of im- 
portance. 

In the experiment in 1828, made before the 
Lord Provost, Principal, Professors, and Clergy- 
men of Edinburgh, in the County Jail, a class of 
criminals which had been formed three weeks before, 
and exercised one hour daily, were thoroughly and 
individually examined without intermission during 
nearly three hours. Our present extract from the 
Report of that Experiment refers, not to the amount 
of knowledge acquired by these persons during these 
three weeks, but to the capacity which, at the end of 
that time, they were found to possess of acquiring every 
sort of knowledge. This experiment was so far im- 
perfect, as the Examinators had no means of ascer- 
taining the true state of their minds, previous to the 
commencement of their exercises. But having, upon 
enquiry found from the governor of the prison, that 
there had been no selection, that all the individuals 
in the ward had been taken, and that at the com- 
mencement of the experiment, they formed a fair 
sample of Jthe prisoners commonly under his charge, 
— the progress of this mental cultivation during that 
short period, became a special object of examination 
by the Reverend and learned individuals who con- 
ducted it. Their Report of the Experiment bears, 
that " these individuals had been taken without any 
regard to their abilities, and former acquirements, 
and formed a fair average of the usual prisoners." 
In endeavouring to ascertain the grasp of mind which 
these individuals possessed, and the readiness with 
which they received and retained whatever was, even 
for the first time, communicated to them, " it was men- 



166 PRACTICAL ENQUIIIY INTO 

tioned, that a gentlemen on the previous day, in 
order to try the capacity of mind which they had 
attained, desired Mr Gall to catechise them upon a 
section, consisting of fourteeen verses, which they 
had not seen before, and that, after just ten minutes' 
examination, one woman, who could not read, re- 
peated the whole distinctly in her own words. Dr 
Brunton proposed, for a similar experiment, the 
parable of the ' talents,"* with which none was ac- 
quainted except one woman, who was consequently 
not permitted to answer. With its being only read 
to them, and with a few minutes' catechising, they 
perceived its various circumstances, and were able to 
enumerate them in detail. This exercise demonstrat- 
ed the capacity of attention, and the power of ana- 
lyzing and laying hold of circumstances, which they 
had reached, as well as the indisputable superiority 
of this System, in unfolding and strengthening the 
mental faculties, even in adults." 

" The writer of the Report,"" it is added, ^' was not 
acquainted with the extent of their acquirements when 
Mr Gall commenced his operations; but judging 
from the examination, and from his knowledge of 
the contents of the books taught, he has no hesitation 
in averring, that the answers which they gave, arose 
entirely from information communicated by them. 
And when he reflects that their answers, being cloth- 
ed in their own words, guaranteed the fact, that it 
was the ideas upon which they had seized, and that 
their knowledge participated in no degree of rote, 
the conviction to his mind is irresistible, that the 
universal application of the Lesson System to Prison 
Discipline, and to adults everywhere, would be fol- 
lowed by eifects, incalculably precious to the indivi- 
duals themselves, and to the improving of society in 
general.'"* 

Numerous other instances might be adduced in 
proof of the efficiency of this method of attempting 
to imitate Nature in this first part of her educational 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 16? 

process, who will always be faithful in adhering to 
her own laws, and countenancing her own work. 
These however may suffice ; — and it ought not to 
escape observation, that in two of the cases first al- 
luded to, the young persons enjoyed only two hours' 
instruction in the week, and these not divided, but 
continuously given at one time. For this reason, it 
might have been feared, that the benefits then re- 
ceived would have been lost, or neutralized, by the 
variety of objects or amusements which must have 
intervened during the week between the lessons. 
But it was not so. And we may here remark, that 
if with all these disadvantages, so much good was 
really done in cultivating the powers of the mind by 
this exercise, what may we not expect by the enlight- 
ened, regular, and daily application of the same 
powerful principles in our ordinary schools, when 
the teacher shall know where the virtue of the wea- 
pon which he wields really lies, and when the nature 
of the material he is called to work upon is also better 
understood. Every exercise and every operation in 
the school will then be made to '« tell ;" and every mo- 
ment of the pupils' attendance will be improved. In 
these circumstances, we are far within the limits of 
the truth when w^e say, that more real substantial 
education will then be communicated in one month, 
than it has been usual to receive by the labours of a 
whole year. 

From what has been already ascertained, we are 
fully warranted in making the following remarks. 

1. From the above facts we can readily ascertain 
the cause, why some exercises employed in education 
are so much relished by the young, and so efficient 
in giving strength and elasticity to the mind ; while 
others, on the contrary are so inefficient, so irksome, 
and sometimes so intolerable. Every exercise that 
tends to produce active thought, — the" reiteration of 
ideas," — is natural, and therefore, not only promotes 
healthful mental vigour, but is also exciting and de- 



168 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

lightful ; while, on the contrary, whenever the mind 
is fettered by the mere decyphering of words, or the 
repeating of sounds, without reiterating ideas, the 
exercise is altogether unnatural, and must of course 
be irritating to the child, and barren of good. 

2. By a due consideration of the above principles, 
we see the reason why mental arithmetic, though it 
may not communicate any knowledge, is yet produc- 
tive of considerable mental vigour. These exercises 
compel the young to a species of voluntary thought, 
the reiteration in the mind of the powers of numbers ; 
and although the result of the particular calculations 
which are then made, may never again be of any ser- 
vice to the pupil, yet the consequent exercise of mind 
is beneficial. It should never be forgotten, however, 
that this exercise of mind upon numbers is altoge- 
ther an artificial operation, and is on this account, 
neither so efficient nor so pleasant as the reiteration 
of moral or physical truths. The same degree of 
mental exercise, brought into operation upon some 
useful fact, where the imagination as well as the un- 
derstanding, can take a part, would at once be more 
natural, more efficient, more pleasant, and more use- 
ful. 

S. From the nature and operation of the above 
principle, also, we can perceive in what the efficiency 
of Pestalozzie's '' Exercises on Objects," consists. — 
When a child is required to tell you the colour and 
the consistence of milk, qualities which have all along 
been familiar to him, it conveys to him no knowledge ; 
but it excites to observation and active thought, — to 
the ^' reiteration of ideas ;"" — and for this reason it is 
salutary. But it is still equally true, as in the for- 
mer case, that the same degree of mental exercise, 
brought into operation upon some useful practical 
truth, would be at least equally useful as a mental 
stimulant, and much more beneficial as an educational 
exercise, 

4, From the nature of this great fundamental prin^ 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. l69 

ciple in mental cultivation, as consisting in the re- 
iteration of ideas, and not of words, we have a key 
by which we can satisfactorily explain the remarkable, 
and hitherto unnaccountable fact, that many persons 
who, in youth and at school, have been ranked among 
the dullest scholars, have afterwards become the 
greatest men. An active mind, in exact proportion 
to its vigour, will powerfully struggle against the 
unnatural thraldom of mere mechanical verbal exer- 
cises. The mind in a healthful state will not be 
satisfied with words, which are but the medium of 
ideas, because ideas alone are the natural food of the 
mind. Till the powers of the mind, therefore, are 
sufficiently enfeebled by time and perseverance, it 
will struggle with its fetters, and it will be repressed 
only by coercion. Minds naturally weak, or gradual- 
ly subdued, may and do submit to this artificial bond- 
age, — this unnatural drudgery ; but the vigorous 
and powerful mind, under favourable circumstances, 
spurns the trammels, and continues to struggle on. It 
may be a protracted warfare, — but it must at last come 
to a close ; and it is not till the pupil has emerged 
from this mental dungeon, and has had these galling 
fetters fairly knocked off, that the natural elasticity 
and strength of his mind find themselves at free- 
dom, with sufficient room and liberty to act. The 
impetus then received, and the delight in the mental 
independence then felt, have frequently led to the 
brightest results. Hence it is, that the reputed dunce 
of the school, has not unfrequently become the orna- 
ment of the senate. 

Lastly, we would remark, that from the facts here 
enumerated, we derive a good test by which to try 
every new exercise proposed for training the young, 
and for cultivating the powers of the mind. If the 
exercise recommended compels the child to active 
thought, — to the voluntary exercise of his own mind 
upon useful ideas, — that exercise, whatever be its 
form, will, to that extent at least, be beneficial. And 



lyO PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

if, at the same time, it can be associated with the 
acquisition of knowledge, with the application of 
knowledge, or with the ready communication of know- 
ledge, — all of which, as we have seen, are concomi- 
tants in Nature's process, — it will, in an equal degree, 
be valuable and worthy of adoption. But if, on the 
contrary, the exercise may be performed without the 
necessity of voluntary thought, or the reiteration of 
ideas by the mind, however plausible or imposing it 
may appear, it is next to certain, that although such 
an exercise may be sufficiently burdensome to the 
child, and cause much labour and anxiety to the 
teacher, it will most assuredly be at least useless, if 
not injurious. 



CHAP. II. 

On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated 
in the PupiVs Acquisition of Knowledge ; with 
a Review of the Analogy between the Mental and 
Physical Appetites of the Young. 

The second step in the progress of Nature's pupil 
is the acquisition of knowledge. — This has always 
been considered a chief object in every system of 
education ; and the discovery of the most efficient 
means by which it may be accomplished, must be a 
matter of great importance. 

In our remarks upon this subject in a previous 
chapter, we have shewn, that Nature in her operations 
employs four distinct principles for accumulating 
knowledge, for retaining it upon the memory, and 
for keeping it in readiness for use at the command of 
the will. There are. First, the " reiteration of ideas" 
by the mind, without which there can be no know- 
ledge ; Secondly^ the principle of " Individuation," 
by which the knowledge of objects and truths is 
acquired one by one ; Thirdly^ the principle of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. I7I 

" Grouping," or Association, in which the mind 
views as one object, what is really composed of many ; 
and. Fourthly, the principle of " Analysis," or Classi- 
fication, in which the judgment is brought into exer- 
cise, the different portions of our knowledge are 
arrano^ed and classified under different heads and 
branches, and the whole retained in order at the 
command of the will, when any portion of it is re- 
quired. — Our object nov\^ is to consider, what means 
are within the reach of the parent and the teacher, by 
which Nature in these several processes may be suc- 
cessfully imitated, while they endeavour to communi- 
cate the elements of knowledge to the young. 

Ideas being the only proper food of the mind, 
Nature has created in the young an extraordinary 
appetite and desire for their possession. There is a 
striking analogy in this respect, between the strength- 
ening of the body by food, and the invigorating of 
the mind by knowledge ; and before proceeding to 
detail the methods by which the parent or the teacher 
may successfully break down and prepare the bread 
of knowledge for their pupils in imitation of Nature, 
it will be of advantage here to consider more parti- 
cularly some of the circumstances connected with 
this instructive analogy. By tracing the likeness so 
conspicuously held out to us in this analogy by Na- 
ture herself, we shall be greatly assisted in evading 
the bewildering and mystifying influence of preju- 
dice, and the reader will be much better prepared to 
judge of the value of those means recommended for 
nourishing and strengthening the mind by knowledge, 
when he finds them to correspond so exactly with 
similar principles employed by Nature for the nourish- 
ing and strengthening of the body by food. We 
shall by this means, we hope, be able to detect some 
of tiiose fallacies which have lono^ tended to trammel 
the exertions, and to prevent the success of the teach- 
er in his interesting labours. 

The first point of analogy to which we would 



172 PIIACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

advert, is the vigour and activity of the mental 
appetite in the young, which corresponds so striking- 
ly with the frequent and urgent craving of their 
bodily appetite for food. — The desire of food for the 
body, and the desire of knowledge for the mind, are 
alike restless and insatiable in childhood ; and a 
similar amount of satisfaction and pleasure is the 
consequence, whenever these desires are prudently 
gratified. That the desire for knowledge in the 
young is often weakened, and sometimes destroyed, 
is but too true ; but this is the work of man, not of 
Nature. It will accordingly be found on investiga- 
tion, with but few exceptions, that wherever the 
general appetite of the child, either for mental or 
bodily food, becomes languid or weak, it is either 
the effect for disease or of some grievous abuse. 

Another point of analogy consists, in the necessity 
of the personal active co-operation of the child him- 
self in receiving and digesting his food. — There is 
no such thing in Nature as a child being fed and 
nourished by proxy. His food must be received, 
digested, and assimilated by his own powers, and by 
the use of his own organs, else he will never be fed. 
In the same way, the food for his mind can benefit 
him only in so far as he himself is the active agent. 
He must himself receive, reiterate in his own mind, 
and commit to the keeping of his memory, every idea 
presented to him by his teacher. No one can do 
this for him ;— he must do it himself. In a family, 
the parent may provide, dress, and communicate the 
food to the child, — but he can do no more; and 
similar is the case with respect to the mental food 
provided by the teacher. He may no doubt select 
the most appropriate kinds, — he may simplify it, — 
he may break it down into morsels ; — but his pupils, 
if they are to learn, must learn for themselves. 
When a pupil, to save himself trouble, tries to evade 
the learning of a preliminary lesson, or when the 
teacher winks at the evasion by performing the exer- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 173 

cise for him, it is as absurd as for a parent to eat the 
child's food, and expect at the same time that his boy 
is to be nourished by it. If the mental food be too 
strong for the child, something more simple must be 
provided for him ; but to continue to administer 
knowledge which the pupil does not comprehend, 
and force the strong mental food of an adult upon 
the tender capacities of a child, is an error of 
the most mischievous kind. It prevents the mind 
from acting at all, without which there can be no 
improvement. The mind must wield its own weapons 
if ignorance is to be dislodged ; and if the child is to 
advance at all, he must overcome the difficulties that 
lie in his way by the exertion of his own powers. 
His teacher may no doubt direct him as to the best 
and the easiest way of accomplishing his object ; but 
that is all. The pupil must in every case perform 
the exercise for himself. 

This leads us to notice another point of analogy in 
this case, which is, the necessity of adapting the food 
to the age and capacities of those who are to receive 
it. — There is in the mental, as well as in the physi- 
cal nourishment provided for our race, milk for the 
weak, as well as meat for the strong ; and it is ne- 
cessary in both cases that the kind and the quantity 
be carefully attended to. In the case of the strong, 
there is less danger ; because, with regard both to the 
mental and bodily food. Nature has so ordered mat- 
ters, that the food which is best adapted for the weak, 
will also nourish the strong; but the food adapted 
for the strong is never suitable, and is often poisonous 
to the weak. There must therefore be, in all cases 
where the young are concerned, as careful a selection 
of the mental food, as there is of the food for the bo- 
dy ; and the parent or teacher should, in all cases, 
present only such subjects, and such ideas to his pu- 
pils, as the state of their faculties, or the progress of 
their knowledge, enables them to understand and ap- 
ply. 

p3 



174 PllACTICAL ENaUIRY IKTO 

Another striking point of analogy between mental 
and bodily nourishment, is to be found in the eiFects 
of repletion, when too great a quantity of food is 
communicated at one time. — As the increase of a 
child's bodily strength does not depend upon the 
mere quantity of food forced into his stomach, but 
upon that portion only which ishealthfully digested and 
assimilated ; so in like manner, the amount of a child's 
knowledge will not correspond to the number of ideas 
forced upon his attention by the teacher, but to those 
only which have been reiterated by the mind, and com- 
mitted by that process to the keeping of the memory. 
In both cases, the evil of repletion is twofold ; there 
is the waste of food and of labour, while the strength 
and the growth of the child, instead of beinor promot- 
ed, are retarded and diminished. The physical 
appetite gains strength, by moderate exercise ; but 
it is palled and weakened by every instakice of reple- 
tion. The desire for food is never for any length of 
time at rest, so long as the stomach is kept in proper 
tone by moderate and frequent feeding ; and the 
quantity of food which a healthy child will in these 
circumstances consume, is often surprising. But 
whenever the stomach is gorged, then restlessness, 
uneasiness, and not unfrequently disease, are the 
consequences. The digestive powers are weakened, 
the tone of the stomach is relaxed, and, instead of 
the healthful craving for food which should occur 
at the proper interval, the appetite is destroyed, 
and food of every kind is nauseated. — Exactly 
similar is the case with the mental appetite. The 
natural curiosity of children, or, in other words, their 
desire of information, before it is checked or over- 
loaded by mismanagement, is almost insatiable; and 
the astonishing amount of knowledge which they 
usually acquire between the ages of one and three 
years, while under the guidance of Nature, has been 
formerly alluded to. But this desire of information, 
and this capacity for receiving it, are by no means 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. i^O 

confined to that early period of their Hves. The 
same appetite for knowledge would increase and ac- 
quire additional strength, were it but properly di- 
rected, or furnished with moderate and suitable 
means of gratification. But when a parent or teach- 
er impatiently attempts to force it upon the child 
more rapidly than he can receive it, — that is, than 
he can reiterate it in his mind for himself, — he not 
only irritates and harasses the child, but his at- 
tempt neutralizes the effect of the ideas which the 
child would otherwise pleasantly and efiiciently have 
received. Every such attempt to do more than 
enough greatly weakens the powers of the pupil's 
mind, and discourages him from any after attempt 
to increase his knowledge. 

As a general maxim in the education of the young, 
it may here be observed, that as long as the under- 
standing of a child remains clear, and he can dis- 
tinctly perceiv^e the truths which are communicated 
to him, he will find himself pleasantly and profitably 
employed, and will soon acquire a habit of dis- 
tinct mental vision ; — the powers of his mind will be 
rapidly expanded and strengthened, and he will re- 
ceive and retain the knowledge communicated to 
him with ease and with pleasure. But when, on the 
contrary, he is overtasked, and more ideas are forced 
upon his attention than his capacity can receive, the 
mind becomes disturbed and confused, the mental 
perception becomes cloudy and indistinct, and all that 
is communicated in these circumstances is absolutely 
lost. If the parent or teacher insists on the pupil 
persevering in his mental meal, in the hope that 
things will get better, we can easily, from the present 
analogy, perceive the fallacy of such a hope. Per- 
severance will only create additional perplexity ; 
the whole powers of the child's mind will become 
more and more enfeebled, or totally prostrated ; the 
labour of the teacher will be lost ; and he will find his 
pupil now, and for some time afterwards, much less 



176 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

able to take a clear and distinct view of any subject 
than he was before. 

There is yet one other point of analogy between 
the supply of food for the body and the mind, to 
which we must also allude. It is to be found in the 
baneful, and often destructive, effects of unnatural 
stimulants applied to the mental appetite, which 
strikingly correspond in their effects to the perni- 
cious habit of supplying stimulants to the young in 
their ordinary food. — Stimulants will no doubt, in 
both cases, produce for the time additional excite- 
ment ; — but they are neither natural nor necessary. 
In all ordinary cases, Nature has made ample provi- 
sion for the supposed want, of which the craving — 
the natural and healthy craving — of children for 
knowledge and for food, gives ample testimony. To 
counteract or to weaken this natural desire would be 
improper ; — but artificially to increase it is always 
dangerous. The reason is obvious ; for the excite- 
ment thus caused being unnatural, it is always tem- 
porary ; but its pernicious effects very soon become 
extensive and permanent. Every physician knows? 
that the habitual use of stimulants in the food of the 
young, weakens the tone of the stomachy palls the 
appetite, creates a disrelish for plain and wholesome 
food, and frequently destroys the powers of diges- 
tion for ever after. Very similar are the effects of 
unnatural stimulants to the mental appetite in train- 
ing and teaching the young, when these stimulants 
are habitually, or even frequently administered. 
Their curiosity, — their appetite for knowledge, — is 
naturally so vigorous, that the repetition, or the 
reading of any story, however commonplace or unin- 
teresting to us, gives them the sincerest pleasure, 
provided only that they understand and can follow 
it. This is a most wise and beneficent provision of 
Nature, of which parents and teachers should be 
careful to take advantage. It is because of this dis- 
position in children, that in all ordinary cases,, the 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 177 

simplest narrative or anecdote in ordinary life, may be 
successfully employed in giving them mental strength, 
and in communicating permanent moral instruction. 
But whenever unnatural and injudicious excitements 
are used in their instruction, and the child's imagina- 
tion has been stimulated and defiled by the ideas of 
giants and ogres, fairies and ghosts, the whole natural 
toneof the mind is destroyed, plain and even interesting 
stories and narratives lose their proper attraction, and 
a diseased and insatiable appetite for the marvellous 
and the horrible is generally created. Even to 
adults, and much more to children, whose minds have 
been thus abused, the plain paths of probability and 
truth have lost every charm ; and the study of ab- 
stract but useful subjects becomes to them a nauseous 
task — an intolerable burden. 

The accuracy of this analogy, we think, will readily 
be admitted by all. And if so, it will at least help 
to illustrate, if it does not prove, some of the impor- 
tant conclusions to which we shall find ourselves led 
upon other, and philosophical grounds. But as the 
prejudices which, during several centuries, have been 
gradually congregating around the science of educa- 
tion are so many and so powerful, every legitimate 
means, and this among others, should be combined for 
the purpose of removing them. 



CHAP. III. 

Hoio Nature may he imitated in Communicating 
Knowledge to the Pupil, by the Reiteration of 
Ideas. 

The phenomenon in mechanics and natural philo- 
sophy, which is popularly termed " Suction,'' may 
be exhibited in a thousand different ways, and yet all 
are the result of but one cause. When we witness the 
various phenomena of the air and common pump, — 
the barometer and the cupping glass, — the sipping of 



178 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

our tea, and the traversing of an insect on the mirror or 
the roof:, — the operations appear so very dissimilar, that 
we are ready to attribute them to the action of a va- 
riety of agents. But it is not so ; — for when we trace 
each of them back to its primitive cause, we find that 
each and all of these wonders are produced by the 
weight of the atmosphere, and that alone. In precise- 
ly the same manner, knowledge may apparently be 
communicated to the human mind in a thousand dif- 
ferent ways ; and yet, when we examine each? and 
trace it to its primitive cause, we find the phenome- 
non to be one — and one alone. The truth has been 
received and lodged with the memory, — made part 
of our knowledge — by the reiteration of its idea by the 
mind itself; — by an exercise of active, voluntary 
thought upon the knowledge thus communicated. 
The cause and the effect invariably follow each other 
both in old and young ; for whenever a new idea is 
perceived and reiterated by the pupil, — if it should be 
but once, — the knowledge of the child is to that ex- 
tent increased ; but whenever this act of the mind 
is awanting, there can be no additional information 
received ; — the increase of knowledge is found to be 
impossible. This appears to be a law of our Nature, 
to which w^e know of no exception. 

It is also worthy of remark here, that the retention 
or permanence of the ideas thus committed to the keep- 
ing of the memory depends upon two circumstances. 
The first is, the vigour of the mental powers, or the in- 
tensity of the impression made upon them at the time of 
reiteration ; — and the second, and certainly the princi- 
pal circumstance, is the frequency of their reiteration 
by the mind. In evidence of the first we see, that a fall, 
a fright, or a narrow escape from imminent danger, 
although it occurred but once, and perhaps in early 
infancy, will be remembered through life ; and in 
proof of the second, we find, that the scenes and cir- 
cumstances of childhood being frequently and daily 
reiterated by the mind, at a time when it has little 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 17^ 

else to reiterate, remain permanently on the memory. 
The object therefore most to be desired by the teach- 
er, is an exercise, or a series of exercises, by which, 
in his attempts to communicate knowledge tohis pupil, 
this act of reiteration may be secured, and if possible 
repeated at pleasure, for more permanently fixing on 
the memory the knowledge communicated. 

In a former chapter we shewed, that this act of re- 
iteration is the instrument employed by Nature for 
cultivating the powers of the mind as well as for com- 
municating and impressing knowledge; — and we have 
also shewn that Nature in that process was success- 
fully imitated by means of the catechetical exercise. 
This exercise has accordingly been found as powerful 
and efficient in promoting this, her second object, as 
it is in the first. The success of the catechetical ex- 
ercise in communicating knowledge clearly to the 
youno;, even when it is but imperfectly managed, has 
been extensive and uniform ; but wherever its nature 
has been properly understood, and it has been scien- 
tifically conducted, the amount of knowledge com. 
municated in a given time, and with a given amount 
of mental and physical labour, stands confessedly 
without a parallel in the previous history of educa- 
tion. Minds the most obtuse, habits of listlessness 
the most inveterate, and mental imbecility, bordering 
on idiotcy, have been powerfully assailed and over- 
come ; and knowledge, by means of this exercise, has 
forced its way, and firmly secured a place for itself, 
in minds which previously were little more than a 
blank. 

The causes of its success in cultivating the powers 
of the mind were formerly explained ; but its adapta- 
tion to the communicating of knowledge is still more 
peculiarly striking. We shall endeavour to point 
out a few of these peculiarities. 

Let us for that purpose suppose a teacher desirous 
of communicating to a child the important fact, that 
-* God at first made all things of nothing to shew his 



180 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

greatness;" it must be done, either by the child 
reading or hearing the sentence. If it be read, there 
is at least a chance, that the words may be all de- 
cyphered, and audibly pronounced, while the ideas 
contained in them have not yet reached the mind. 
The child may have carefully examined each word 
as it occurred, and may have reiterated each of them 
on his mind as he read them, and yet there may not 
be the slightest addition to his knowledge. The 
reiteration of words, as we have before explained, is 
not that which Nature requires, but the reiteration 
of ideas ; and although we may, by substituting the 
one for the other, deceive ourselves, Nature will not 
be deceived; for unless the ideas contained in the 
sentence be reiterated by the mind, there can be no 
additional information conveyed. — The same thing 
may happen, if the words, instead of being read by 
the child, are announced by the teacher. The pupil 
may in that case hear the sounds ; nay, he may re- 
peat the words, and thus reiterate them in his mind 
after the teacher ; but if he has not translated the 
words into their proper ideas as he proceeded, expe- 
rience proves, that his knowledge remains as limited 
as before ; — there has been no additional information. 
These cases are so common, and so uniform, that no 
farther illustration we think needs be given of them. 
The desideratum in both these cases is, some exer- 
cise by which the child shall be compelled to trans- 
late the words into their several ideas; and by reiterat- 
ing the ideas themselves, not the words which convey 
them, he shall be enabled at once to commit them to 
the keeping of the memory, and thus make them 
part of his knowledge. The catechetical exercise 
supplies this want. For if, in either case, after the 
words have been read or repeated, the child is asked, 
" What did God make .?'"* the translation of the 
words into the ideas, if previously neglected, is now 
forced upon him, because without this it is impossible 
for him to prepare the answer. The ideas must be 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 181 

drawn from the words, and reiterated by the mind, 
independently of the words, before the exercise can 
be completed. And not only must the particular 
idea which answers tlie question be extracted, but 
the whole of the ideas contained in the sentence must 
be reiterated by the mind, before the selection can 
be begun, and the choice made. It is also specially 
worthy of remark, that even in such a case as this, 
where, on the sentence being read or heard, the words 
alone were at first perceived, yet no sooner does the 
mind proceed to its legitimate object, the reiteration 
of the ideas which the words convey, than the words 
themselves are instantly lost sight of, and in one sense 
are never again thought of. As soon as the kernel is 
extracted, the shell has lost its value. The pupil 
having once got sight of the ideas, tenaciously keeps 
hold of them^ and never once thinks again of the 
words, which were merely the instrument employed 
by Nature to convey them. When the question is 
asked, and he answers it, the process consists in his 
translating the words of the whole sentence into their 
several ideas, chusing out the idea which answers 
the question from all the others, and then in clothing 
that idea in words which are now entirely his own. 

In all this there is a long and intricate series of 
mental exercises, in every one of which the mind is 
actively employed, and it is in this, as before explain- 
ed, that the value of this exercise, in cultivating the 
powers of the mind, really consists. But our present 
business is with the acquisition of knowledge by its 
means ; and we have to observe, that in each of the 
mental operations required for the answer of a single 
question, the ideas contained in the original sentence 
have repeatedly to undergo the process of reiteration ; 
by which they are more clearly perceived, and more 
permanently fixed on the memory, than they other- 
wise could have been. Hence the value of this exer- 
cise, even in those cases where the original sentence 
has been at the first fully understood. This will appear 

Q 



182 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

obvious by tracing the mental operation of the pupil 
from the beginning, when he has to answer the ques- 
tion. 

There is first the understanding of the question 
asked at him. This must be heard and reiterated 
by the mind before its purport can be perceived, 
and all this before he can commence the proper men- 
tal operation upon the original sentence from which 
his answer is to be selected. He has then to review 
the words of the original sentence, still sounding in 
his ears, and to translate them into their several 
ideas, before he can begin to select the one required. 
Then comes the act of selection, having to chuse out 
from among all the others the special idea required 
as his answer ; and lastly, there is the clothing of 
that idea in words suitable for the occasion, and the 
audibly pronouncing of these words as the answer 
required. The rapidity with which the mind passes 
from one part of this exercise to another, may prevent 
these several operations from being perceived, but 
it is not the less true that they must have taken place. 
And hence arises the value of the catechetical exer- 
cise, not only in cultivating in an extraordinary 
degree the mental faculties of the pupil, but in 
powerfully forcing information upon the mind, and 
permanently fixing it upon the memory for after use. 

But even this does not exhaust the catalog-ue of 
benefits to be derived from the use of the catecheti- 
cal exercise in communicating knowledge to the 
young. We have supposed only one question to 
have been asked by the teacher upon the original 
sentence, and yet we have seen that this one question 
has in fact in a great measure secured the under- 
standing of the whole of the ideas contained in it. 
But instead of one question, the catechetical exercise 
has the power of originating many, each producing 
successively similar results, but with greater ease to 
the child? and with much more effect in rivetting 
the several ideas upon the memory. The first ques- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 183 

tion, when properly put, gives the pupil tlie com- 
mand of the whole proposition ; but it requires con- 
siderable mental effort in the child to recal the 
words, and internally to translate the ideas for the 
first time. But when this has once been done, and 
a second question is asked from the same sentence, 
the ideas being now more familiar, there is less men- 
tal labour required in preparing the answer, and 
there being equal success, there is of course more 
satisfaction. The ideas become much more clear and 
distinct before the mind by a second review ; and 
the effect, in fixing the whole upon the memory, is 
much more powerful than it could be by means of 
the first. When therefore the teacher confines him- 
self to the original sentence, and does not indulge in 
catechetical wanderings, the questions, " When did 
God make all things ?" " How many things did 
God make ?" " Of what did God make^all things r'' 
and, " Why did God make all things T'' produce 
extensive and powerful effects. The pupil finds 
himself able to master each question in succes- 
sion without difficulty, and the answering of each 
appears to him a triumph. Whoever has been in 
the habit of making; use of this exercise in the man- 
ner explained above, must have witnessed wdth plea- 
sure the life, and energy, and delight, which it in- 
variably infuses into the scholar, giving education a 
perfectly different aspect from what it usually as- 
sumes in the eyes of the young, and making it even 
in the estimation of the pupil a formidable rival to 
his play. In this manner has Nature set her seal 
upon this exercise, as a near approximation to her 
own process for attaining the two preparatory objects 
she has in view in the education of the young; that 
of cultivating the powers of the mind, and that of com- 
municating to her pupils the elements of knowledge. 
This exercise has been reduced to a regular sys- 
tem, which has placed it more directly at the com- 
mand of all who undertake the instruction of the 



184 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

young. By a little attention on the part of parents 
and teachers, to a few simple rules, they may catechise 
upon any book, and apply the exercise to any species 
of knowledge whatever. We shall endeavour to ex- 
plain the nature and uses of these rules. 

For the purposes of this exercise, the school books 
of the pupil are supposed to consist of sentences, 
each of the principal words in which conveys some 
specific idea ; — these again are combined into clauses^ 
which also convey an idea ; — and the combination of 
these clauses in a sentence^ or paragraph^ usually 
forms a complete truth. For example, the sentence, 
" God at first [made all things] of nothing [to shew 
his greatness,"] contains one great truth; but the 
sentence which conveys it, embodies at least two 
clauses, inclosed in brackets, while the whole is made 
up of words, each of which is the sign of an idea 
which may readily be separated from all the others. 
Now it is evident, that questions may be formed by 
the teacher relative to each of these three parts. He 
may ask a question, which shall require the whole 
truth for the answer ; or one which will be answered 
by a clause ; or another which is answered by a word. 

In " revising,"''' accordingly, where time is an object, 
the teacher confines himself to those general questions 
which bring out the whole truth at once, as is ex- 
emplified in the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. 
This is called the " Connecting Exercise,"" because 
it is employed in uniting sections together, which 
have previously been taught to the pupils separately, 
but which are necessary to be perceived also in con- 
nection. This, however, would be too limited an 
exercise for the purpose of directing the mind to the 
several parts of a truth for the first time ; and there- 
fore the teacher in those cases forms his questions 
chiefly upon the clauses in the sentence, and the 
other words which have some material relation to 
them, and this is called the " General Exercise.'"* 
But even this is not enough, where the child is dull. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOy. 185 

or where healthful mental exercise is required; and 
accordingly in that case, the teacher not only ques- 
tions upon the clauses in connection with the other 
principal w^ords, but he takes the words, of which 
the clauses are composed, and catechises the child 
upon them also. This is called the «■ Verbal P^xer- 
cise,""* which has been found of great value in the 
teacher's intercourse with his younger classes. Upon 
these principles the Initiatory Catechisms and their 
Keys have been formed, together with the several 
Plelpsfor communicating Scriptural knowledge. The 
success of these school books, although labouring un- 
der all the disadvantages of new instruments, imper- 
fectly formed to work out new principles, is mainly to 
be attributed to the close imitation of Nature aimed 
at in all their exercises. 

The 7'ule for the parent or teacher in mastering these 
exercises is the same in all ; it consists simply in form- 
ing the question in such a manner, as that the word, 
the clause, or the whole proposition, shall be required 
to make the answer. Sufficient explanation and exam- 
ples of all this will be found in the Note.* 

The uniform results of many experiments, have esta- 
blished the importance of this exercise as an instrument 
in communicating knowledge to the ignorant, wli ether 
young or old. We shall shortly advert to a few of 
the circumstances connected with these experiments, 
for the purpose of satisfactorily establishing this. 

In an experiment made in May 1828, under the 
direction of the Very Rev. Dr Baird, Principal of the 
University of Edinburgh, before the Lord Provost, 
and several of the Professors and Clergymen of that 
city, nine adult criminals, '' taken without regard to 
their abilities,^' and who, in the opinion of Governor 
Rose, " formed a fair average of the usual prisoners,"* 
were, in the space of three successive weeks, exercised 
in whole for eighteen or twenty hours. They were at 

* Note L. 

q3 



186 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

the end of that time minutely examined in the Chapel 
of the County Jail, in the presence of the Right 
Honourable and Reverend Professors and Gentlemen, 
who formed Principal Baird's committee ; and their 
Report of the experiment and its effects bears, that 
" the result of this important experiment was, in 
every point, satisfactory. Not only had much religi- 
ous knowledge been acquired by the pupils, and that 
of the most substantia], and certainly the least eva- 
nescent kind ; but it appeared to have been acquired 
with ease, and even with satisfaction — a circumstance 
of material importance in every case, but especially 
in that of adult prisoners." " The examination evi- 
dently brous^ht out only a specimen of their know- 
ledge, and did by no means comprise all that had been 
acquired by them ; but, even though it had consti- 
tuted the whole amount of their information, the fact 
that such a treasure had been amassed in three weeks 
is in itself astonishing. The writer of this Minute 
was not acquainted with the extent of their acquire- 
ments when Mr Gall commenced his operations ; but 
judging from the examination, and from his know- 
ledge of the contents of the books taught, he has no 
hesitation in averring, that the answers which they 
gave, arose entirely from information communicated 
by them. And when he reflects that their answers, 
being clothed in their own words, guaranteed the 
fact, that it was the ideas upon which they had seiz- 
ed, and that their knowledge participated in no de- 
gree of rote, the conviction to his mind is irresistible, 
that the universal application of the Lesson System 
to Prison Discipline, and to adults every where, 
would be followed by effects incalculably precious to 
the individuals themselves, and to the improving of 
society in general.*" 

The efficiency of this exercise in communicating 
knowledge, was equally conspicuous in another ex- 
periment, conducted under the eye of the Principal, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 187 

Professors, and Clergymen of Aberdeen, in July 
1828. The persons on whom this experiment was made, 
were children taken from the lower classes of society, 
carefully selected on two several days, by a committee 
of clergymen appointed for the purpose, from the 
various schools in the city. These children were all 
carefully and individually examined in private by 
the committee, and were chosen from among their 
companions, not on account of their natural abilities, 
or educational acquirements, but specially and simply 
on account of their ignorance. The precautions taken 
by the Rev. and learned examinators, to secure ac- 
curacy in their ultimate decision, were at once judi- 
cious and complete ; and were intended to enable 
them to say with confidence at the close of the expe- 
riment, that the results, whatever they might be, 
were really the eiFects of the exercise and discipline 
to v/hich the children during it had been subjected, 
and were in no respect due to the previous capacity 
or the attainments of the children. 

To secure this important preliminary object, there- 
fore, the sub-committee of clergymen above alluded 
to was appointed, as soon as the experiment was de- 
termined upon, with instructions to collect a class of 
the most ignorant children they could find, attending 
the several schools, and who it was thought would 
be, of course, most incapacitated for receiving in- 
struction. This sub-committee, consisting of the 
Rev. John Murray, the Rev. Abercromby L. Gor- 
don, and the Rev. David Simpson, in their previous 
Report, say, " We, on two several days, met with 
the children which were collected from the various 
schools, and examined them individually, and apart 
from each other ; avoiding every appearance of for- 
mality, and endeavouring to draw them into familiar 
conversation, that we might correctly ascertain the 
state of their religious knowledge on the three fol- 
lowing points, which we considered to be the best 



188 PHACTICAL ENaUIEY INTO 

criterion by which to jufige of their understanding 
of the other less important points in the gospel scheme 
of salvation. — These points were, 1. Our connection, 
as sinners, with Adam ; 2. Our connection with Christ 
as the Saviour; 3. The means by which we become 
interested in the salvation of Christ. On minutely exa- 
mining each child on these points, one by one, and en- 
deavouring, by varied and familiar language and cross- 
questioning, without confusing their ideas, to ascertain 
the knowledge which they possessed on these first prin- 
ciples, we accurately, and at the time, minuted the re- 
sult, distinguishing those points which they understood, 
and those which they did not. From this list w^e after- 
wards selected twenty-tw^o names, of children who ap- 
peared from the list, to be the most \gnorant,hy not hav- 
ing any ynarks of approval on any one of these points 
on which they were examined ;— -although delicacy to 
the children, as well as to their parents and teachers, 
prevented us from stating to them, that this was the 
principle by which we had been regulated in our se- 
lection. Erom these twenty-two children, Mr Gall 
has made up his class of ten, for this experiment, 
which he proposes shall continue for eight days, oc- 
cupying two hours each day ; and having thus chosen 
that class of pupils which appeared to us the most 
ignorant, we have, in justice to Mr Gall and this 
system of teaching, stated the fact, leaving the exa- 
minators to make what allowance they may on this 
account think proper, in determining on the failure 
or success of this very important and interesting ex- 
periment."' 

This was the state of the children's knowledge and 
capacity v/hen the experiment began ; and the fol- 
lowing was found to be the state of these same chil- 
dren's knowledge when examined publicly in the 
East Church, before the Very Rev. Principal, Pro- 
fessors, and Clergymen of the city, and a large con- 
gregation of the citizens, eight days afterwards. 
The children were first interrogated minutely on 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 189 

the doctrines of the gospel, which had been previous- 
ly arranged in a list under sixteen different heads, 
embodying all the leading doctrinal points in the 
Confession of Faith and Shorter Catechism, a copy 
of which was handed to the Very Rev. Principal 
Jack, who presided. The Report of the Experi- 
ment, prepared by their Committee, goes on to say, 
that " After being examined generally and satisfactor- 
ily on each of these heads, the chairman, by means 
of a Hst of the names with which he was furnished, 
called up some of them individually, who were care- 
fully examined, and shewed, by their answers, that 
they severally understood the nature of the above 
doctrines, and their mutual relation to each other. 

" They were then examined on the Old Testament 
Historv, from the account of the death of Moses, 
downwards, to that of the revolt of the Ten Tribes 
in the reign of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly 
stated and described all the leading circumstances 
of the narrative comprised in the ' First Step,' 
whose brief but comprehensive outline they ap- 
peared, in various instances, to have filled up at 
home, by reading in their Bibles the corresponding 
chapters. They were next examined in the same 
way, on several sections of the New Testament," 
with which they had also acquired an extensive prac- 
tical knowledge, besides some useful information in 
Civil History/, Biography, and Natural Philosophy, 
on all which they were closely and extensively exa- 
mined. 

In another experiment, undertaken at the request, 
and under the sanction, of the Sunday School Union 
of London, the eiRciency of this exercise? as a suc- 
cessful imitation of Nature in communicating know- 
ledge, was also satisfactorily ascertained. We shall 
at present advert only to one feature of it, as being 
more immediately connected with the present branch 
of our subject, that of communicating knowledge to 
the most ignorant and depraved. 



190 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

The Report of this Experiment, drawn up by the 
Secretaries of that Institution, records, that " it had 
been requested, that, if possible, children should be 
procured, somewhat resembling the heathen, (or per- 
sons in a savage state,) whose intellectual and moral 
attainments were bounded only by their knowledge 
of natural objects, and whose feelings and obligations 
were of course regulated principally by coercion and 
fear of punishment. 

Two gentlemen of the Committee, accordingly, 
undertook the search, and at last procured from the 
streets three children, a boy and two girls of the 
ages, so far as could be ascertained, (for they them- 
selves could not tell,) of seven, nine, and eleven years, 
whom we shall designate G, H, and I. These chil- 
dren had no knowledge of letters ; knew no more than 
the name of God, and that he was in the skies, but 
could not tell any thing about him, or what he had 
done. They knew not who made the sun, nor the 
world, nor themselves. They had no idea of a soul, 
or that they should live after death. One had a con- 
fused idea of the name of Jesus, as connected with 
prayers ; which, however, she did not understand, 
but had never heard of Adam, Noah, or Abraham. 
When asked if they knew any thing of Moses, one 
on them (viz. I,) instantly recollected the name ; but 
when examined, it was found that she only referred 
to a cant term usually bestowed upon the old-clothes- 
men of London. They had no idea of a Saviour ; 
knew nothing of heaven or hell ; had never heard 
of Christ, and knew not whether the name belonged to 
a man or a woman. The boy, (H,) when strictly in- 
terrogated on this point, and asked, whether he in- 
deed knew nothing at all of Jesus Christ, thinking 
his veracity called in question, replied with much 
earnestness, and in a manner that showed the rude 
state of his mind, «« No ; upon my soul, I do not !''' 

This class, after eleven days' teaching, conducted 
in public, and in the presence of numbers of teachers, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. IQl 

during one hour daily, were publicly examined in 
the Poultry Chapel, by a number of clergymen, be- 
fore the Committee of the Sunday School Union, and 
a numerous congregation. The Report goes on to 
say, that the children of this class " were examined, 
minutely and individually, on the great leading doc- 
trines of Christianity. The enumeration and illus- 
trations of the several doctrines were given with a 
simplicity, and in a language, peculiarly their own ; 
which clearly proved the value of that part of the 
Lesson System which enjoins the dealing with the 
ideas, rather than with the words ; and which shew- 
ed, that they had acquired a clear knowledge of the 
several truths. They were also examined on some 
parts of the Old Testament History,"" with which, 
during that short period, they had been made tho- 
roughly acquainted. 

These facts of themselves, and they could be en- 
larged to almost any extent, clearly prove the power 
and the value of this exercise in communicating 
knowledge to the young. And, as we have seen that 
its efficiency consists entirely in its close imitation 
of the process of Nature in accomplishing the same 
object, we are the better v/arranted to press upon the 
minds of all who are interested in education and the 
art of teaching, the importance of keeping strictly to 
Nature^ so far as we can trace her operations ; as it 
is by doing so alone that we are sure of success. It 
may no doubt be said, that there are other ways of 
communicating knowledge to the young, besides the 
catechetical exercise; and therefore the necessity of 
adopting it is neither so necessary nor so urgent. 
To this it may be answered, that there have been 
other plans adopted, in urgent cases, for the nourish- 
ment of the body? besides the common mode of eat- 
ing and digesting food ; but all such plans are unnatu- 
ral, and are of course but momentary and inadequate ; 
— this, therefore, would form no argument for depriv- 
ing children of their food. But even this argument is 



192 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

not parallel; for, although it has been found that 
partial nourishment may be conveyed to the blood 
otherwise than by the stomach, it has not yet been 
ascertained that any idea can enter the mind, except 
by this act of " reiteration." Unless, therefore, 
something definite can be brought forward, which 
will secure the performance of this act, different 
from the catechetical exercise, or the several modifi- 
cations of it, that exercise ought to be considered as 
a necessary agent in every attempt of the teacher to 
communicate knowledge. 

But this admission in a philosophical question is 
much more than is at all necessary for our present 
purpose. It is in every view of the case sufficient to 
shew, that knowledge cannot be imparted without 
voluntary active thought upon the ideas communi- 
cated, or what we have termed, <« reiteration ;" — and 
if this be once admitted, and if it can be shewn that the 
catechetical exercise produces this result more certain- 
ly, and more powerfully^ than any other mode of instruc- 
tion yet known, then nothing but prejudice will lead 
to the neglect of this, or will give the preference to 
another. And it is a remarkable fact, that on inves- 
tigation it will found, that almost every useful exer- 
cise introduced into schools within the last thirty years, 
owes its efficiency to the presence, more or less, of the 
principles which we have been explaining, as em- 
bodied in the catechetical exercise.* 



CHAP. IV. 

On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in 
Eooercising the Principle of Individuation, 

While it appears to be a law of Nature, that 
there can be no accumulation of knowledge without 



* For some practical information and directions connected with 
tlie subjects in this chapter, see Note M, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 193 

the act of reiteration, yet there are otlier principles 
which she brings into operation in connection with 
it, by which the amount of the various branches of 
knowledge received is greatly increased, and the 
knowledge itself more easily comprehended, and 
more permanently retained upon the memory. 

The first of these principles? which we have before 
alluded to and described, is that of " individuation ;" 
that principle by which an infant or child is induced 
to concentrate the powers of its mind upon a new 
object, and that to the exclusion for the time of every 
other, till it has become acquainted with it. 

In a former chapter we found, that as long as a 
child remains solely under the guidance of Nature> 
it will not allow its attention to be distracted by 
different unknown objects at the same time ; but when- 
ever it selects one for examination, it invariably for the 
time abandons the consideration of every other. The 
consequence of this is, that infants, with all their phy- 
sical and mental imbecility, acquire more real know- 
ledge under the tuition of Nature in one year, than 
children who are double their age usually gain by the 
imperfect and unnatural exercises of unreformed schools 
in three or four. The cause of this is easily detected, 
and may be illustrated by the analogy of any one of the 
senses. The eye, for example, like the mind, must 
not only see the object, but it must look upon it — 
examine it — before the child can either become ac- 
quainted v;ith it at the time, or remember it after- 
wards. But if unknown objects are made rapid Iv to 
flit past the eye of the child, so that this cannot be done 
before there is time to fix the attention upon any of 
them, the labour of the exhibitor is not only lost, 
but the sight of the child is impaired ; — the eye itself 
is injured, and is less able, for some time afterwards, 
to look steadily upon any other object, even when that 
object is stationary. Such is the injury and the con- 
fusion created in the mind of a child when it is hurried 
forward from object to object, or from truth to truth, 

B 



194 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

before the mind has had leisure to lay hold of them, or 
to concentrate its powers upon the ideas they suggest. 
The labour of the teacher in that case is not only 
lost, and the child harassed and irritated, but the 
powers of the mind, instead of being brightened and 
strengthened, are bewildered and mystified, and must 
therefore be weakened in a corresponding degree. 

The method to be adopted therefore for the imita- 
tion of Nature in the working of this principle, will 
consist in bringing forward, for the consideration 
of the child, every new letter, or word, or truth, or 
object, by itself. When presented separately and 
alone, there is no distraction of mind — no confusion 
of ideas ; the child is allowed to consider it well be- 
fore learning it, so that he will know something of its 
form or its nature, and will remember it again when it 
is either presented to his notice alone, or when it is 
grouped with others. His idea of the object or truth 
may be indistinct and faint at first, but it is correct 
so far as it goes; and the ideas which he retains 
concerning it, are obviously much more extensive? 
than if the mind at its first presentation had been 
disturbed or bewildered by the addition of something 
else. 

His idea of the object or the truth, after being 
repeatedly considered, may still be very inadequate, 
but it will now be distinct; and it is the want of this 
precision in the pupil's mind that so frequently de- 
ceives teachers, and confuses and obstructs the future 
advance of the scholars. When a child hears, or 
reads a passage, the teacher, who understands it him- 
self? too often takes it for granted that the child as 
he proceeds is reiterating the ideas as well as himself, 
and is of course master of the subject. But this is 
not always the case ; and wherever the child has not 
succeeded in doing so, all that follows in that lesson 
is usually to the child the cause of confusion and 
difficulty. He finds himself at a stand ; and how- 
ever far he may in these circumstances be dragged 



THE nriLOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 195 

forward, he has not advanced a step, and he must 
at some future period, — and the sooner the better, — 
return again to the same point, and proceed anew 
under serious disadvantages. 

In ahnost every stage of a child"'s education, the 
neglect of tliis principle is seriously and painfully 
felt. It is the cause of acute mental suffering to 
well affected and zealous pupils ; and it is the 
chief origin of all the heartlessness, and idleness, and 
apathy, which are found to pervade and regulate the 
conduct of those that are less active. A careful 
appliance of this principle of individuation, therefore, 
is always of importance in education; but it ought 
never to be forgotten, that it is more peculiarly valu- 
able and necessary at the commencement, than at 
any other period of a child's progress in learning. 
We shall advert to a few of the methods by which 
it may be applied in ordinary school education, in 
contrast with some instances in which it is neglected. 

In teaching the alphabet to children, the principle 
of individuation is indispensible ; and its neglect lias 
been productive of serious and permanent mischief. 
A child of good capacity, by a proper attention to 
this principle, will, with pleasure and ease, learn 
the names and forms of the letters, with the labour 
of only a few hours;* while, by neglecting the prin- 
ciple, the same child would, after years of irritation 
and weariness, be still found ignorant of its alpha- 
bet. The overlooking of the principle at this period 
has done an immense deal of injury to the cause of 
education. It has, at the very starting post in the 
race of improvement, quenched and destroyed all the 
real, as well as the imaginary delights of learning 
and knowledoe. It has aiven the tvro such an erro- 
neous but overwhelming impression of the difnc ilties 
and miseries which he must endure in his future 



• Note N. 



196 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

advance, that the disgust tlien created has often so 
interwoven itself with his every feehng, that educa- 
tion has during life appeared to him the natural and 
necessary enemy to every kind of enjoyment. 

It used to be common, and the practice may still 
we believe be found lingering among some of the lovers 
of antiquity, to make a child commence at the letter 
A, and proceed along the alphabet without stopping 
till he arrived at Z ; and this lesson not unfrequently 
included both the alphabets of capitals and small let- 
ters. Now the cruelty of such an exercise with a child 
will at once be apparent, if we shall only change its 
form. If a teacher were to read over to an infant 
twice a-day a whole page or paragraph without stop- 
ping of Csesar or Cicero in Latin, and demand that 
on hearing it he shall learn it, we could at once judge 
of the difficulty, and the feelings of a volatile mind 
chained to the constant and daily repetition of 
such a task ; and if this exercise were termed its 
'' education," we can easily conceive the amount 
of affection that the child would learn to cherish 
towards it. Now this is really no exaggerated illus- 
tration of the matter in hand, for in both cases the 
principle of individuation, so carefully guarded and 
enforced by Nature, is equally outraged ; and it is 
only where, by some means or other, a remedy for 
the evil accidentally occurs, that the result in the 
case of the alphabet, is not exactly the same as it 
would have been in the case of the classics above 
supposed. The writer once saw in a Sunday school, 
where the children were taught twice each Sabbath, 
a class in which some of the children had attended 
for upwards of two years, and were still in their al- 
phabet; and if the same mode had been pursued, 
there is little doubt that they would have been in 
it yet. 

The remedy for this evil is obvious. Instead of 
confounding the eye and the mind of the child, by 
rapidly parading twenty- six, or fifty-four forms, con- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. TQJ 

tinuous^y and without intermission before the pupil, 
the letters ought to be presented to the child singly, 
or at most by two at a time ; and these two sliuuld 
be rendered familiar, both in name and in form, 
before another character is introduced. When a few 
of the more conspicuous letters have become familiar, 
another is to be brought forward, and the child may 
be made to amuse himself, by picking out from a 
page of a book, all the letters he has learned, naming 
them, and if necessary describing them to a com- 
panion or a sub-monitor as they occur. Or he may 
be set down by himself, with a waste leaf from an 
old book, or pamphlet, or newspaper, to prick with 
a pin the new letter or letters last taught him ; or, 
as an introduction to his writing, he may be made to 
score them gently with ink from a fine tipped pen- 
In these exercises, and all others which are in their 
nature similar, the principle of individuation is ac- 
knowledged and acted upon ; and therefore it is, that 
a child will, by their means, acquire an acquaintance 
with the letters in an exceeedingly short time, and, 
which is of still greater importance, without irritation 
or trouble. These methods may sometimes be ren- 
dered yet more effective, by the teacher applying 
the catechetical exercise to this comparatively dry 
and rather forbidding part of a child's education. 
It proceeds upon the principle of describing each 
letter, and attaching its name to the description, such 
as «' round o," " spectacle g," " top dotted i," &cc. 
as in the " Classified Alphabet." The teacher has thus 
an opportunity of exercising the child's imagination, 
as well as its memory, and making a monotonous, 
and comparatively unintellectual exercise, one of 
considerable variety and amusement. 

In teaching the alphabet to adults, whose minds 
are capable of appreciating and applying the princi- 
ple of analysis, the " Classified Alphabet'' should in- 
variably be used. By this means their memory, in 
endeavouring to recal the form and name of any par- 
k3 



198 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

ticular letter, instead of having to search through 
the whole tiventy-sioo, has never to think of more 
than the four or five which compose its class, — a 
circumstance which makes the alphabet much more 
easily acquired by the adult than by a child. But 
even here, the principle of individuation must not be 
lost sight of; each letter in the class must be sepa- 
rately learned, and each class must be familiar, before 
another is taught. 

The principle of individuation continues to be 
equally necessary in teaching children to combine 
the letters in the formation of words ; and when it is 
attended to, and when the only real use of letters, as 
the mere symbols of sound, is understood by the pu- 
pil, a smart child may be taught to read in a few 
minutes. This is not a theory, but a fact, — evidenced 
in the experience of many, and in the presence of 
thousands. Nor is it necessary that the words which 
are taught, should consist only of two or three letters ; 
if the word be familiar to the child in speech, it be- 
comes instantly known, when divided and taught in 
parts or syllables ; and when once it is learned by 
the sounds of the letters, though these sounds merely 
approximate to the pronunciation of the word, it is 
sufficient to give a hint of what the word is, and 
when once it is known, it will not likely be again 
forgotten. By this means, the child is never puzzled 
except by entirely new words ; and by knowing the 
use of the letters in their sounds, he receives a key 
by which at least to guess at them, which the sense 
of the subject greatly assists ; so that one day, or 
even one hour^ is sometimes, and we have no doubt will 
soon be generally, sufficient to overcome the hitherto 
forbidding and harassing drudgery of learning to read. 

In teaching children their first lessons, it is of 
great importance that the main design of reading- 
should be clearly understood, and attended to. As 
writing, philosophically considered, is nothing more 
than an artificial substitute for speaking, so reading 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 199 



is nothing more than an artificial substitute for hear- 
ing, and is subject to all the laws which regulate that 
act. Now one of the chief laws impressed by Nature 
on the act of hearing the speech of others, is the 
very remarkable one formerly alluded to, namely, 
the exclusive occupation of the mind with the ideas 
communicated, to the entire exclusion of the words^ 
which are merely the means by which the ideas are 
conveyed. The words are no doubt heard, but they 
are never thought of; — for if they were, the mind 
would instantly become distracted, and the ideas 
would be lost. This law equally applies to the act 
of reading ; and every one feels, that perfection in 
this art is never attained, till the mind is exclusively 
occupied with the ideas in the book, and never in any 
case with the words which convey them. But in 
learning to read, the difficulty of decyphering the 
words, tends to interfere with this law, and this must 
be guarded against. The remedy simply is, to allow 
the child, time to overcome this first difficulty, by re- 
peatedly, if necessary, reading the sentence till he 
can read it perfectly ; and then, before leaving it, to 
discipline the mind to the perception of the ideas it 
contains, now that the child can read it well. 

The catechetical exercise, as in the «* First Class 
Book on the Lesson System,"*' will almost always 
accomplish the object here pointed out ; and the va- 
lue of the exercise it recommends will be best under- 
stood and appreciated, by observing the evils which 
invariably follow its neglect. For if the child be 
allowed to read on and on, while the difficulty of de- 
cyphering the words in the book remains, the ideas 
will be left behind, the attention will be fatigued, 
and at last exhausted. The child will continue to 
read without understanding; and the habit thus ac- 
quired of reading the words, without perceiving the 
ideas at all, will soon be established and confirmed. 
Custom has robbed this relict of a former age of 
much of its repulsiveness ; but it is not the less hurt- 



200 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

ful on that account. Were we to run a parallel with 
it in any other matter, its true nature and deformity 
would at once appear. For example, were we to 
suppose ourselves listening to an imperative message 
from a superior, by a messenger with whose language 
we were but partially acquainted, we would not allow 
him to proceed with his communication from begin- 
ning to end, while the very first sentence he uttered, 
had not been understood, and the mind was unprepared 
for that which was to follow. We would stop him at 
the close of the very first sentence, and would mas- 
ter the meaning of that, before we would advance with 
him another step ; and then we would make him pro- 
ceed at such a pace as we could keep up with him. 
If he left us again behind, there would be but one 
remedy. He must return and repeat the sentence 
where he left us, till we had comprehended his mas- 
ter's meaning ; and if he refused to do this? he could 
not conscientiously say to him on his return, that he 
had delivered his message. By following this plan, 
and adopting this branch of the natural principle of 
individuation in such a case, two benefits would arise. 
We would first become perfectly acquainted \vith the 
will and message of our superior; and next, we 
would, at the close of the exercise, be so much more 
familiar with the language in which it was delivered, 
as that it would require less effort on a future occasion, 
to comprehend the meaning of the same speaker. If 
this method had not been adopted, and the message 
had been given entire and without a pause, it might 
have been rehearsed in our hearing a hundred times, 
but the meaning would neither have been mastered, 
nor would our knowledge of the language have been 
in the least improved. 

The application of this principle of individuation 
in the early stages of a child's learning to read, sug- 
gests the propriety also of making some preparation 
for his reading every new lesson in succession. We 
have seen that it is chiefly the new words in a lesson 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 201 

that create difficulty, and prevent the operation of 
that important law in Nature which induces the mind 
at once to lay hold of the ideas. To obviate this dis- 
traction of mind therefore beforehand, the new words 
which are to occur in the lesson should be selected, 
and made familiar to the child previoushs and by 
themselves ; — he should be taught to read them easily 
bv the combination of their letters, and clearly to un- 
derstand their meaning, in precisely the same shade 
in which they are used in the lesson he is to read. 
When this is done, the lesson will be read with ease 
and with profit; — while, without this, the difiiculty 
will be much greater, if not beyond his powers. In 
accordance with this plan, the ••' First Class Book,'"* 
before referred to, has been constructed, and its 
efficiency on that account is greatly increased. 

The neglect of this special application of the prin- 
ciple has been long and painfully felt in society, and 
most of all where the young have been sent earliest 
to school. The habit of reading the words without 
understanding the meaning of what they read, having 
once been acquired, the weak powers of children are 
not sufficient to overcome the difficulties with which 
this habit has surrounded them. They feel them- 
selves burdened and harassed with unnatural and un- 
meaning exercises for years, before they can acquire 
the art of reading the words of the simplest school 
book ; and, what is still worse, after they have left 
the school, and have entered upon the busy scenes of 
life, they find, that they have now to teach themselves 
an entirely new art, — the art of understanding by 
reading. Instead of all this waste of energy, and pa- 
tience, and time, experience has fully proved, that bv 
following the plain and easy dictates of Nature, a?; 
above explained, all the drudgery of learning to read 
may be got over in a week, — it has been times with- 
out number accomplished in a single day,* — and 

• Note H. 



202 PRACTICAL EXQUniY INTO 

this Avithout any harassing exertion, and generally 
with delight. Of the truth of this, a few out of 
many instances may here be enumerated. 

In the summer of 1831, the writer one morning 
found himself, by mere accident, and a perfect stran- 
ger, in a Sunday school in tlie borough of Southwark, 
London. He attached himself first to a class of 
children, some of whom he found on enquiry had 
been two years at the school, and were yet only learn- 
ing the alphabet. In the same school, and on the 
same morning, a young man who only knew his letters, 
but had never yet attempted to put them together, 
was classified with the infants, whom he had wilHng- 
ly joined in his anxiety to learn. He had a lesson by 
himself. By a rigid adherence to the above principle 
of individuation, this young man, to his own great as- 
tonishment, was able in a few minutes to read a verse. 
The lesson went on, and in somewhat less than half 
an hour he had mastered several verses, and now knew 
perfectly how to make use of the letters in decypher- 
ing the several words. By that one lesson he found 
himself quite able to teach himself. In proof of this, 
as was afterwards ascertained, he read that same day 
on going home, without help, nineteen verses of the 
same chapter ; and these verses, on returning to school 
on the same afternoon, he read correctly and with- 
out hesitation, to his usual and astonished teacher. 
There can be no doubt, from this circumstance, that 
if it had been at all necessary, he could, without fur- 
ther aid, and with still greater ease, have read a se- 
cond nineteen verses, and perfected himself by prac- 
tice in this important, and supposed difficult art of 
reading, by this one lesson of less than half an hour. 

In a later experiment, made in Dumfries, in the 
presence and under the sanction of Sir Thomas Kirk- 
patrick, and the clergymen and teachers of that town, 
the power of this principle was put to a severe trial, 
in a very unexpected and extraordinary manner. The 
week-day teachers of that town having heard of some 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 203 

of the above circum>tances, and of the jiowers of the 
Lesson System generally, in enabling children to 
read with but little trouble, were desirous of having 
its powers tested in that town, where the writer 
happened to be for a few days. He agreed ; and Sir 
Thomas Kirkpatrick, the Sheriff' of the county, with 
the clergymen and teachers, at his request, formed 
themselves into a committee for the purposes of the 
investigation. A sub-committee of the week-day 
teachers were appointed to procure a boy to be taught, 
which they did, and who, on being closely examined 
at a preliminary public meeting of the whole exami- 
nators, was found totally ignorant of words, and 
knew not one letter from another, with the exception 
of '' the round o." 

With this boy the writer retired, having agreed to 
call them again together at a public meeting, as soon 
as he was ready. This at the time he did not doubt 
would have been on the very next day ; — but he was 
disappointed. He had not been five minutes with 
his pupil, till he found, to his great mortification, 
that he had little or no intellect to work upon. The 
boy was twelve years of age, and yet he was perfectly 
ignorant of all the days of the week, except one, the 
market day, on which he was in the practice of mak- 
ing a few pence by holding the farmers' horses. He 
could in no case tell what day of the week went be- 
fore or followed another. He could count numbers 
forward mechanically till among the teens ; but 
by no effort of mind could he tell what number 
came before nine, till he had again counted forward 
from one. The most obvious deduction from the 
simplest idea appeared to be quite beyond the grasp 
of his mind. For example, though repeatedly told 
that John was Zebedee's son, yet, after frequent 
trials, he could never make out, nor comprehend who 
was John's father. Yet this boy, — one certainly 
among the lowest in the grade of intellect of our 
species, — by a rigid application of the principle of 



204 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

individuation, was enabled to overcome a great part 
of the drudgery of learning to read, by exactly eight 
hours' teaching. This boy, who at the preliminary 
meeting on Wednesday, knew only ••' the round o," 
read correctly in the Court-House on the following 
Monday? a section of the New Testament, to the 
Rev. Dr Duncan, minister of Ruthwell, before the 
Sheriff, clergymen, teachers, and a large assembly of 
the inhabitants of Dumfries. To ascertain that he 
had in that time really learned to read, and that he 
did not repeat the words of the section by rote, he 
was made to read before the audience, in a chapter of 
the Old Testament, and then from a newspaper, 
the same words that he had read in his lesson. This 
he did readily, and without a mistake. 



CHAP. V. 

On the Means by which Nature may he imitated in 
Applying the Principle of Grouping, or Association. 

The principle of Grouping, or Association, as 
employed by Nature in her educational process, is 
obviously intended to enable the pupil easily to re- 
ceive knowledge, and to assist the memory in retain, 
ing and keeping it ever after at the command of the 
will. It is employed to unite many objects or truths 
into one aggregate mass, which is received as one, — 
having the component parts so linked, or associated 
together, that when any one part is afterwards brought 
before the mind, it has the power of immediately 
conjuring up, and holding in review, all the others. 
For example, when a child enters a room in which 
its parents and relations are severally employed, the 
whole scene is at a single glance comprehended and 
understood, and will afterwards be distinctly remem- 
bered in all its parts. The elements of the scene are 
lio doubt all familiar, but the particular grouping of 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 205 

these elements are entirely mii\ and form an addi- 
tion to his knowledge, as we formerly explained, as 
substantial, and as distinct, as the grouping of any 
other kind of objects or circumstances could possibly 
do. Here then is a certain amount of knowledge 
acquired by the child, which could be recorded in 
writing, or which might be communicated by words ; 
but which, by the operation of this principle of 
grouping, has been acquired with greater ease, and 
in much less time, than he could either have read 
it, or described it. It has been done in this in- 
stance by Nature bringing the ideas suggested by 
the group directly before the mind of the child, 
without even the intervention of words ; and we see 
by this example, how much more laborious it would 
have been to communicate the very same amount of 
knowledge to the pupil, by making him read the 
description of it? and how utterly preposterous and 
unnatural it would be to compel him, for the same 
purpose, to commit the words of that description to 
memory. The words are merely an artificial contriv- 
ance for the conveying of ideas ; — -and the more they 
can be kept out of view, it will be better for the 
teacher, and more natural and easy for the child. 

In communicating knowledge, therefore, to the 
young, the more directly and simply the ideas to 
be communicated are presented to the mind the bet- 
ter. They must usually be communicated by words ; 
but these, as the mere instruments of conveyance, 
should be kept as much as possible out of view. To 
bring them at all under the notice of the child is a 
defect ; but to make them the chief object of learning, 
or to make the pupil commit them to memory, is not 
only laborious and unnecessary, but is unnatural and 
hurtful. 

In all this we ought simply to take our lessons 
from Nature, if we wish to succeed in conveviiii!; 
knowledge by the combination of simple objects. 
In the above example, we have seen that a single 



206 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

glance was sufficient to give the infant a distinct idea 
of the whole scene ; and the reason is, that the prin- 
ciple of individuation had previously done its work. 
Each of the elements of which the scene was com- 
posed, had undergone an individual and separate 
examination, and therefore each was familiar. This 
is Nature's method of communicating^ knowledcre to 
the young; and it is obvious, that a different ar- 
rangement of the objects or actions would have made 
no difference in the effects produced by the operation 
of the principle. Whatever the circumstances might 
have been, the new scene, with all its variety of in- 
cidents, persons, and things, which it would take 
ten-fold more time to enumerate than to learn, would 
at once be impressed on the mind, and delivered over 
to the keeping of the memory, without labour, or 
any perceptible effort. The whole grouping forms 
a chain of circumstances, any one link in which, 
when afterwards laid hold of by the mind, brings up 
all the others in connection with it. The memory 
by this means is relieved from the burden of remem- 
bering all the individualities, and the innumerable 
details of the scene, by maintaining a comprehensive 
hold of the whole united group, as one undivided 
object for remembrance. 

From this it appears evident, that this principle is 
intended to succeed that of individuation, and never 
to precede it. Objects and truths which form the 
elements of knowledge must be individually familiar, 
before they can be successfully grouped, or associat- 
ed together in masses, in the way in which the 
several parts of the knowledge of the young are 
usually presented ; but after these objects or truths 
have once become known, they may be permanently 
associated together in any variety of form without 
fatigue, and be retained on the memory for use 
without confusion or distraction of any kind. 

In our investigations into the nature and working 
of this principle^ as detailed in a former chapter, we 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATTOX. 207 

found several causes which gave rise to certain uni- 
form effects, which, for the purpose of imitation 
or avoidance, may be classed under the following 
heads : — We found, 

1. That wherever the principle of grouping acted 
with effect, it had always been preceded by the 
principle of individuation. 

2. That wherever the principle of individuation 
was made to interfere, the effect intended by the 
principle of association was in the same degree ob- 
structed or destroyed. 

3. That whenever ideas cr objects, whether 
known or unknown, were presented to a child in 
greater number than the m.ind could receive or rei- 
terate them, it silently dropped the surplus; — but if 
these were forced upon the mind, all the mischiefs 
arising from the interference of the two hostile prin- 
ciples immediately took place. 

4. That children, in grouping under the tuition of 
Nature, received and retained the impressions of 
objects presented to their notice, in a natural and 
regular order ; — forming in their minds a conti- 
nuous moving scene, where motion formed a part of 
it ; and that this movement of the objects, actually 
was a portion of the grouping. 

These being the facts connected with this portion 
of Nature''s educational process, the object of the 
teacher should be to endeavour to imitate her in all 
these circumstances; carefully avoiding what she 
has shewn to be inoperative and hurtful, and copying 
as closely as possible all those that tend to forward 
the objects of instruction. 

The first thing then to be attended to by the 
teacher, is, that in every attempt to communicate 
knowledge to a child by the grouping of objects, 
he takes care that the principle of individuation 
has preceded it ; — that is, that the various ideas or 
objects to be grouped, be individually familiar to the 
pupil. In communicating a story, therefore, or an 



208 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

anecdote, or in teaching a child to read, care must 
be taken that the objects or individual truths, the 
words, or the letters, be previously taught by them- 
selves, before he be called upon to group them in 
masses? whether greater or smaller. If this be ne- 
glected, an important law of Nature is violated, and 
the lesson to this extent will be ineifective., or worse. 
But if, on the contrary, this rule be attended to, the 
pupil, when he comes to these objects in the act of 
grouping, is prepared for the process ; he meets with 
nothing that he is not familiar with ; he has nothing 
to learn, and has only to allow the objects to take 
their proper places, as when he looked into the 
room, and grouped its contents as before supposed. 
All this being perfectly natural, is accomplished 
without effort, and with ease and pleasure. — This 
pr^autioa on the part of the teacher, will at once 
remove rn'any of the difficulties and embarrassments 
which hive hitherto pressed, so heavily upon the 
pupil in%almost every stage of his advance, but 
more espe^ally in the early stages of his learning to 
read.* 

As an illustration of our meaning, we may notice 
here, that a child who knows what is meant by 
" sheep," and " the keeping of sheep," of " tilling 
the ground/' and " making an offering to God," &c. 
is prepared to hear or to read an abridgement of the 
story of Cain and Abel. We say an abridgement 
or Jirst step, for reasons which shall afterwards be 
explained. Without a previous knowledge of these 
several elements of which this story is compounded, 
he could neither have listened to it with pleasure, 
nor read it with any degree of profit; but as soon 
as these are individually familiar, the grouping, — 
the knowledge of the whole story, — is a matter of 
ease, and generally of delight. As the story ad- 
vances, it causes a constant and regular series of 

* Note O. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 2C9 

groupings on the mind by the imagination, which 
are at once exquisitely pleasing and permanent. 
The child, as in a living and moving picture, ima- 
gines a man laboriously digging the ground, and 
another man in a distant field placidly engaged in at- 
tending to the wants and the safety of a flock of sheep. 
He imagines the former heaping an altar with fruits 
and without fire ; and the latter killing a lamb, lay- 
ing its parts on an altar, while a stream of (ire de- 
scends from the skies and consumes it. His imagina- 
tion goes on with increasing interest to picture the 
quarrel-scene in the field; and he in effect sees the 
blow given by the club of Cain, that destroyed the 
life of his brother. All this living and moving scene 
will be remembered in groups ; and these groups 
will be more or less closely linked together, and will 
be imagined more or less distinctly as a whole, in 
proportion to the mental advancement of the parti- 
cular child. 

The next thing to be attended to in communicating 
knowledge to a child by grouping, is, that no strange 
or unknown object or idea be introduced among 
those which he is called upon to group ; because in 
that case, the operation will be materially interfered 
with, and either marred or destroyed. The com- 
pleteness of this operation in the hands of Nature, 
depends in a great measure, as we have seen, upon 
the perfect composure and self-possession of the mind 
during the process. If there be no interruption, — 
no element of distraction introduced into the exercise, 
— all the circumstances, as they arise in the gradual 
developement of the story, are comprehended and 
grouped. The living and moving picture is perma- 
nently fixed upon the memory, so that it may be re- 
called and reviewed at any future time. But if, on 
the contrary, the placidity of the mind be interrupt- 
ed, — if some strange and unknown object be intro- 
duced, whose agency is really necessary for connect- 
ing the several parts of the story, — the very attempt 
s3 



210 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

of the child to become individually acquainted with 
it, throws the whole process into confusion ; and he 
has either to drop the com t era pi a ti on of this necessai'y 
part of the machinery, or to lose the benefit of all that 
is detailed during the time he is engaged with it. 
In either case the end is not gained ; and the great 
design aimed at by the teacher, — the communication 
of the knowledge connected with the narrative, — is 
more or less frustrated. Like the landscape pictured 
on the placid bosom of the lake, the formation and 
contemplation of his own undisturbed imaginings are 
delightful to the child ; but the introduction of an 
unknown object, like the dropping of a stone in the 
former case, produces confusion and distortion, which 
are always unpleasant and painful. 

One general reason why the introduction of un- 
known objects into these groupings of the child is so 
pernicious, may also be here adverted to. It arises 
from the circumstance, that no person, whether young 
or old, can form, even in his imagination, the idea of 
an entirely new thing. This is commonly illustrated 
by the well known fact, that it is impossible to 
conceive of a new sense ; — but it is equally applicable 
to the conception of a new object. Adults can no 
doubt conceive and picture on their imaginations, 
objects and scenes which they never saw ; — but this 
mental act is not the imagining of an entirely new 
thing. All such scenes or things are compound- 
ed of objects, or parts of objects, which they have 
seen, and with which they are familiar. They can 
readily picture to themselves a centaur or a cerberus, 
a mermaid or a dragon, — creatures which have no 
existence, and which never did exist ; but a little 
reflection will shew, that nothing which the mind 
conceives of these supposed animals is really new, 
but is merely a new combination of elements, or 
parts of other animals, already familiar. Children 
accordingly can easily conceive the idea of a giant 
or a dwarf, a woman without a head, or a man with 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 211 

two, because the elements of which these anomalies 
are compounded are individually familiar to them ; — 
but were they told of a person sitting in a howdah, 
or being conveyed in a palanquin, without having 
these objects previously explained or described to 
them, the mind would either be drawn from the 
story to find out what these meant, and thus they 
would lose it; or they would, on the spur of the 
moment, substitute in their minds something else 
which perhaps had no likeness to them, and which 
would lead them into serious error. For example, 
they might suppose that the one was a house, and 
the other a ship ; — a supposition which would dis- 
tort the whole narrative, and would render many of 
its parts inconsistent and incomprehensible. 

As adults then, in every similar case, are under 
the necessity of drawing materials from their general 
knowledge, for the purpose of compounding all such 
unknown objects, it must be much more difficult for 
a child to do this, not only because of his want of 
ability, but his want of materials. The remedy 
therefore in this case is, to explain and describe the 
objects that are to be grouped, before the pupil be 
called upon to do so. And when the object has not 
been seen by the child, and cannot be exhibited by a 
picture, or otherwise, the teacher must exert his in- 
genuity in enabling him to form an idea of the thing 
that is unknown, by a combination of parts of objects 
which are. Thus a tiger may be described as re- 
sembling a large cat ; a wolf, a fox, or even a lion> 
as resembling certain kinds of dogs; a howdah as a 
smaller Sofia, and a palanquin, as a light crib. In all 
these cases, it is worthy of notice, that a mere dif- 
ference of size never creates confusion ; — simply be- 
cause, by a natural law in optics, such differences are 
of constant occurrence in the experience both of chil- 
dren and adults. A water neut will convey a suffi- 
ciently correct idea of a crocodile ; and the picture of 
an elephant, only one inch square, vvill create no dif- 



212 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

ficulty, if the correct height be given. When these 
rules hca\e been attended to, it will be found, that this 
principle in Nature has been successfully imitated ; 
and the pupil, by the previous process of individuation, 
will be perfectly prepared for the delightful task of 
grouping the objects which he now knows. When 
he comes to these objects in the narrative, he con- 
ceives the idea of them accurately, and he groups 
them without effort. There is no hesitation, and no 
confusion in his ideas. The painting formed upon 
the mind is correct ; the whole picture is united into 
one connected scene, and is permanently imprinted 
on the memory for future use. 

Another circumstance connected with this principle 
of grouping in children, we found to be, that when 
at any time a greater number of objects were present- 
ed to the mind than it was able to reiterate and 
group, it silently dropt the surplus, and grouped 
those only which came within the reach of its powers ; 
but if in any instance an attempt was made to force 
the child to receive and reiterate the ideas of objects 
beyond a certain point, the mind got confused, and 
its powers weakened. — The imitation of Nature in 
this point is also of great importance in education, 
particularly in teaching and exercising children in 
reading. To perceive this more clearly, it will be 
necessary to make a few remarks on the nature of 
the art of reading. 

Reading is nothing more than a mechanical inven- 
tion, imitative of the act of hearing ; as writing is a 
mechanical mode of indicating sounds, and thus be- 
comes a substitute for the art of speaking, and con- 
veying ideas. But there is this material diiFerence 
between reading and hearing, that in hearing the per- 
son giving attention is in a great measure passive, 
and may, or may not attend as he pleases. He may 
receive part of what is said, and, as prompted by 
Nature, he may silently drop all that he cannot 
easily reiterate. But in the act of reading, the per- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 213 

son has both the active and the passive operations to 
perform. His mind, "while he reads, must be active- 
ly engaged in decyphering the words of his book, 
and the ideas are, or shoidd be, by this act, forced 
upon the observation of the mind at the same time. 
As long, therefore, as the child is required to read 
nothing except that which he understands, and to 
read no more, and no faster, than his mind can with- 
out distraction receive and reiterate the ideas which 
he reads, the act of grouping will be performed 
with ease, and with evident delight, and the powers 
of the mind will be healthfully and extensively exer- 
cised and strengthened : — But if this simple principle 
of Nature be violated, the exercise becomes irritating 
to the child, and most pernicious in its consequences. 
The neglect of this application of the principle is so 
common in education, that it usually escapes obser- 
vation ; but on this very account it demands from 
us here a more thorough investigation. 

We say then, that this principle is violated when 
a child is required to read that which it does not, and 
perhaps cannot understand ; and also when he is re- 
quired to read more, or to read faster, than he is able 
to reiterate the ideas in his own mind. On each of 
these cases we shall say a few words, for the purpose 
of warning and directing the teacher in applying 
this important principle in education. 

Let us then suppose a child set to read a section 
which he does not, and which there is every proba- 
bility he cannot understand, and then let us carefully 
mark the consequences. The child in such a case reads 
the words in his book, which ought to convey to his 
mind the ideas which the words contain. This is the 
sole purpose of either hearing or reading. But this 
is not accomplished. The words are read, and the 
ideas are not perceived ; but the child is required to 
read on. He does so; and of course when the first 
part of the subject or sentence has been i)evon(] liis 
reach, the second, which most probably iiangs upon 



214 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

it, must be much more so. In this therefore he also 
fails ; but he is still required to read on. Here is a 
practice begun, which at once defeats the very in- 
tention of reading', and allows the child's mind to 
roam upon any thing or every thing, while the eve is 
mechanically engaged with his book. The habit is 
soon formed. The child reads ; but his attention is 
gone. He does not, and at length he cannot, under- 
stand by reading. This habit, as we formerly ex- 
plained, when it is once formed, it requires great 
efforts on the part of the child to overcome. Most 
people when they are actively engaged in life, do 
at last overcome it; while thousands, who have nomi- 
nally been taught to read, never can surmount the 
difficulties it involves. Many on this account, and 
for want of practising an art which they cannot pro- 
fitably use, lose the art altogether. 

But again, let us suppose a child set to read that 
which he may understand, but which he is required 
to read more rapidlv than allows him to perceive 
and to reiterate the ideas while reading, and let us 
mark what are the necessary consequences in such a 
case. The child is called on to read a sentence, and 
he does so. He understands it too. But the art of 
reading is not yet familiar, and he has to bend part 
of his attention to the decyphering of the words, as 
well as to the perception and reiteration of the ideas. 
This requires more time in a child to whom reading 
is not yet familiar, than to a child more advanced. 
But give him a little time, and the matter is accom- 
phshed ; the ideas have been received, and they will 
be reiterated, grouped, and committed to the keeping 
of the memory, — and then they will form part of his 
knowledge. But if this time be not given, — if the 
child, while engaged in collecting the ideas from the 
words of one sentence, be urged forward to the read- 
ing of another, the mental confusion formerly de- 
scribed instantly takes place. More ideas are forced 
upon the mind than it can reiterate ; no group can be 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 215 

formed, because the elements of which it ought to be 
composed, have not yet been perceived ; the imagi- 
nation gets bewildered ; — the mind is unnaturally bur- 
dened ; — its faculties are overstretched ; — the child 
is discouraged and irritated ; the powers of his mind 
fatigued and weakened ; and the whole object of the 
teacher is at once defeated, and rendered worse than 
useless. — In every case, therefore, when the child is 
called on to read, sufficient time should be given ; — 
the teacher taking care that the main design of 
reading, that of collecting and grouping ideas, be 
always accomplished ; and that the pupil reads no 
more at one time than he can thoroughly understand, 
and retain. 

There is yet another circumstance connected with 
this process of grouping, which ought not to be over- 
looked. It refers to the order in which the objects 
to be grouped by the child are presented to his no- 
tice. A child under the guidance of Nature, receives 
and retains its impressions of objects in a natural and 
simple order. When it witnesses a scene, the group 
of objects, or actions formed and pictured on the 
mind by the imagination, is exactly as they were 
seen, the one circumstance following the other in 
natural and regular order. In telling a story there- 
fore to a child, and more especially in composing 
lessons for them to read, this part of Nature''s plan 
should be carefully studied and acted upon. The 
elements of which the several groupings are compos- 
ed, or the circumstances in the narrative to be relat- 
ed, should be presented in the order in which the eye 
would catch them in Nature, or the order in which 
they occurred, that there may be no unnecessary re- 
trogression of the mind, no confounding of ideas, no 
fear of losing the links that connect and bind together 
the minor groupings of the story. In the history of 
Cain and Abel, for example, the child is not to be 
required to paint upon his imagination, a deadly 
struggle between two persons of whom as yet he knows 



216 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

nothing ; and then, retiring bp.ckwards in the story, 
be made acquainted with the circumstances connected 
with their several offerings to God ; and last of all, 
their parentage, tlieir occupations, and tlieir charac- 
ters. The minds of the young and inexperienced 
would be perplexed and bewildered by such a plan 
of proceeding ; and the irregularity would most pro- 
bably be the cause of their losing the whole story. 
The opposite of this plan is no doubt frequently 
adopted in works of fiction prepared for adults, and 
for the sake of effect ; but every one must see that it 
is unnecessary in simple history, and is not at all 
adapted for the instruction of the young. When 
Nature's method is adopted, the child collects and 
groups the incidents as he proceeds, and paints, with- 
out effort, the whole living and moving scene on his 
imagination, as if he himself had stood by, and been 
an eye-witness of the original events. 

The ascertained benefits of these modes of imitat- 
ing Nature, are literally innumerable; and it is hap- 
pily within the power of every parent or teacher, in 
a single hour, to test them for himself. We shall 
merely advert to one or two instances which occurred 
in the recorded experiments, where their effects, in 
combination with the other principles, were conspi- 
cuous. 

In the experiment upon the prisoners in the 
County Jail of Edinburgh, the acquisition of their 
knowledge of Old Testament History, instead of 
being a burden, was to them a source of unmingled 
gratification. There were painted upon their minds 
the leading incidents in the history of the patriarchs, 
not only in groups, but their judgments being ripen- 
ed, they were able to perceive them in regular con- 
nection. These pictures, then so pleasantly impress- 
ed on their imaginations, are likely to remain with 
them through the whole of their lives. The Report 
says, that «' they were examined on their knowledge 
of the Book of Genesis,'" and '' gave a distinct ac- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. SlJ 

count of its prominent facts from Adam down to the 
settlement in Goshen, and shewed by their answers 
that these circumstances were understood by them in 
their proper nature and bearings." 

By the same means, but in less time, and to a 
greater extent, the same object was attained with the 
children in Aberdeen, who, thougli chosen from the 
schools specially on account of their want of know- 
ledge, were, by only a few hours teaching, enabled, 
besides many other subjects of knowledge, to receive 
and retain on their minds the great leadmg circum- 
stances that occurred from " the death of Moses 
downwards, to that of the revolt of the ten tribes 
in the reign of Rehoboam." 

In the experiment in London also, a large por- 
tion of Old Testament history, with much other 
knowledge, was acquired in a few hours by a boy 
of about nine years of age, who, previously to the 
commencement of the experiment, knew no more of 
God than the name ; — who had no idea of a soul, or 
that he should live after death ; — who " had never 
heard of Adam, Noah, or Abraham ;" — " had no 
idea of a Saviour ; knew nothing of heaven or hell ; 
had never heard of Christ, and knew not whether the 
name belonged to a man or a woman." Yet this boy, 
in an exceedingly short time, could give an account 
of many groupings in the Old Testament history. 

We shall only remark, in conclusion, that if, by 
the proper application of this principle, so much 
knowledge may be acquired by rude and ignorant 
children, not only without effort, but in the enjoy- 
ment of great satisfaction ; what may not be expected 
in ordinary circumstances, when the pupils are regu- 
larly trained and prepared for the purpose, and when 
all the principles employed by Nature in this great 
work, are made to unite their aids, and to work in 
harmony together for producing an enlightened and 
virtuous population ? This may most assuredly be 
gained in an exceedingly short period of time, by a 

T 



218 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

close and persevering 
educational processes. 



close and persevering imitation of Nature in these 



CHAP. VI. 

On the Methods hy which Nature may he imitated in 
Communicating Knowledge hy Classijication^ or 
Analysis. 

In a former chapter we had occasion to notice a 
fourth principle brought into operation by Nature 
in the acquisition of knowledge, which is the principle 
of Classitication, or Analysis; and we shall now 
enquire how this principle may be successfully imi- 
tated by the teacher for the furtherance of his art. 

There are two forms, which in a former chapter 
we endeavoured to trace out and explain, in vvhich 
this principle of Analysis appears in the education- 
al process of Nature. We shall here again very 
shortly advert to them, beginning with that which 
in education is perhaps the most important, but 
which hitherto has certainly been least attended to, — 
that of teaching connected truths by progressive 
steps. 

When we read a connected section of history for 
the first time, and then examine the state of our 
knowledge respecting it, we find that we have retained 
some of the ideas or truths which we read, but that we 
have lost more. When that portion which we have re- 
tained is carefully examined, we find that it consists 
chiefly of the more prominent features of the narra- 
tive, with perhaps here and there occasional group- 
ings of isolated circumstances. We have, in fact, 
retained upon the memory, little more than the 
general outline, — the great frame-work of the history* 
There will be the beginning, the middle, and the 
end, containing perhaps ^ew of the minor details, 
but what is retained is all in regular order, bound 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EUUCATJON. 219 

together as a continuous narrative, and, however 
meagre, the whole forms in the imagination of the 
reader, a distinct and connected whole. There is 
perhaps no more of the intended fabric of the history 
erected in the mind than the mere skeleton of the 
building; but this frame- work, however defective in 
the details, is complete both as to shape and size, 
and is a correct model of the finished building 
from top to bottom. This is the state of every ad- 
vanced pupiFs mind, after he has for the first time 
closed the reading of any portion of history or 
biography. If the narrative itself has been correct, 
this general outline, — this great frame-work of the 
history, — remains on his mind through life, without 
any material alteration. Additional information after- 
wards will assist in filling up the empty spaces left 
between the more massive materials, but it will 
neither shake nor shift them ; and even the most 
minute details of individual or family incidents, con- 
nected with the general narrative, while they add 
additional interest, and fill up or ornament different 
and separate parts, will never alter the general form 
of the fabric, nor displace any of the main pillars 
upon which it is supported. 

This is one way of illustrating this analytical pro- 
cess of Nature ; but for the purposes of imitating it 
in education it is not perhaps the best. The idea of 
a regular analytical table of the history, formed of 
successive branches, by successive readings, is by far 
the most natural and applicable. By a first reading 
of a portion of history, there are certain great leading 
points established in the mind of the reader, which 
form the first branches of a regular analysis, and to 
some one or other of which parts or divisions every 
circumstance of a more minute kind connected with 
the history, Avill be found to be related. This first 
great division of the history attained by the first read- 
ing, if correct, will, and must, remain the same, 
whatever addition may afterwards be made to it. 



220 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

By a second reading, our knowledge of the leading 
points will greatly assist us in c:>llecting and remem- 
bering many of the more minute circumstances em- 
bodied in them, or intimately connected with them ; 
but even then, an ordinary mind, and more especially 
a young person, will not have made himself master 
of all the details. A third, and perhaps a fourth 
reading, will be found necessary to give him a full 
command of all the minuter circumstances recorded.* 

In endeavouring to take advantage of this prin- 
ciple, so extensively employed by Nature, it is of 
great importance to observe, that a certain definite 
effect is produced by each successive reading. A 
first reading establishes in the mind of the pupil a 
regular frame- work of the whole history, which it is 
the business of every successive reading to fill up 
and complete. There is by the first course, a sepa- 
ration of the whole subject into heads, forming the 
regular divisions of a first branch of the analysis ; 
■ — the second course tends to subdivide these again 
into their several parts; and to form a second branch 
in this analytical table ; — and a third course, would 
enable the pupil to perceive and to separate the parts 
of the narrative included in these several divisions, 
by which there would arise a third branch, all in- 
cluded in the second, and even in the first. 

We have here supposed, that the pupil has been 
engaged with the very same chapters in each of these 
several courses ; — and that he read the same words 
in the first course that he read in those which fol- 
lowed. He had to read the whole, although he 
could retain but little. He had to labour the whole 
field for the sake of procuring plants, which could 
have been more certainly and more healthfully raised 
upon a square yard. His reading for hours has pro- 
duced no more knowledge than is expressed by the 
first branch of the supposed analysis ; and therefore, 

* Note P. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 221 

if the teacher would but analyse the subject for the 
child, whether it be a science or a history, — suppose 
for example, the History of Joseph, — and give his 
younger pupils no more at first than the simple out- 
line of the story, some very important advantages 
would be the result. In the first place, the very 
difficult task of keeping the volatile mind of a child 
continuously fixed to the subject during the length- 
ened reading of the whole narrative will be unneces- 
sary ; — the irritation and uneasiness which such a 
lengthened exercise must produce in a child will 
be avoided ; — time will be economised, the labour 
of the teacher will be spared, and the mind of the 
child at the close of the exercise, instead of being 
fagged and prostrated, will be found vigorous and 
lively. And yet, with all this, the positive result 
will be the same. The child's knowledge of the sub- 
ject in this latter case, will in reality be as extensive, 
and much more distinct and permanent, than in the 
former. 

Here is the first step gained ; and to attain the 
second, a similar course must be pursued. Nature, who 
formed this first branch of the analytical table on the 
minds of the first class of the children, formed another 
and more extended branch in the minds of the second 
class. The teacher therefore has only to take each of 
the branches which form the first step, and sub- divide 
them into their natural heads, so as to form a second ^ 
— and to teach this to his children in the same man- 
ner that he taught them the former. By this means, 
the first class will now possess an equal degree of 
knowledge with those who occupied the second ; — 
and by a similar process, the others would advance to 
the third and the fourth classes according to circum- 
stances. 

The plan here proposed for imitating Nature by 

progressive steps, has been tried with undeviating 

success for many years. Its efficiency, as embracing 

the principle employed by Nature for the communi- 

T 3 



222 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

cation of knowledge, has been repeatedly subjected 
to the most delicate and at the same time the most 
searching experiments. By its means, in connection 
of course with the catechetical exercise by which it 
is wrought, very extraordinary effects have been pro- 
duced even upon individuals whose minds and cir- 
cumstances were greatly below the average of com- 
mon children. 

In the experiment made upon the adult crimi- 
nals in the County Jail of Edinburgh, the pupils ac- 
quired easily and permanently a thorough know- 
ledge of the history contained in the Book of Genesis. 
** They gave a distinct account of its prominent facts, 
from Adam, down to the settlement in Goshen, and 
shewed by their answers, that these circumstances 
were understood by them, in their proper nature and 
bearings. They gave, in the next place, a connected 
view of the leading doctrines of revelation ; when 
their answers evinced, most satisfactorily, that they 
apprehended, not merely each separate truth, but 
that they perceived its relation to others, and pos- 
isessed a considerable knowledge of the divine system 
as a whole. They were also examined upon several 
sections of the New Testament ; where their answers 
displayed an equally clear and accurate knowledge 
of the subject." These persons, be it observed, be- 
longed to a class of individuals, who are generally con- 
sidered to be peculiarly hostile to the reception of infor- 
mation of this kind, and certainly w^ho are least able 
to comprehend and retain it ; and all this, besides 
other portions of knowledge, on which they were 
examined during the experiment, was communicated 
with ease by about twenty hours teaching. 

By the experiment made at Aberdeen, upon chil- 
dren the most ignorant that the Committee of Clergy- 
men could find among the several schools in the city, 
it was ascertained, that after only nine or ten hours 
teaching, they had not only received a thorough 
knowledge of '* several sections of Nev/ Testament 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 223 

History/' but that they had acquired a knowledge of all 
the leading events included in the Old Testament 
History, from " the death of Moses, downwards to 
that of the revolt of the Ten Tribes in the reign 
of Rehoboam. Here they distinctly stated and des- 
cribed all the leading circumstances of the narrative 
comprised in the « First Step,' whose brief but com- 
prehensive outline they appeared, in various instances, 
to have filled up at home, by reading in their Bibles 
the corresponding chapters/' 

The efficiency of this form of analytical teaching, 
as exhibited in successive steps, when employed for 
the purpose of teaching a knowledge of civil history 
and biography, was also proved with equal certain- 
ty ; — for these same children showed a thorough 
knowledge of that portion of the History of England 
embraced by the reign of Charles I. and the Common- 
wealth ; and in biography, the life of the late John 
Newton having been employed for the purpose, they 
shewed such an acquaintance with the leading facts, 
and the uses to be made of them, that the reverend 
gentlemen in this report of the experiment say, that 
the children had " to be restrained, as the time would 
not permit/"* 

In teaching the sciences, particularly the science of 
natural philosophy, this method of employing the 
principle of analysis has been found equally success- 
ful. Nature indeed, by the regular division of her 
several works, has obviously pointed this out as the 
proper method of proceeding, especially with the 
young ; and the success that has invariably accom- 
panied the attempt, shews that the opinion is well 
founded. 

In the experiment at Aberdeen, the class of chil- 
dren, who were specially selected from their compan- 
ions on account of their ignorance only a few days 
before, were " interrogated, scientifically, as to the 
production, the nature, and the properties of several 
familiar objects, with the view of shewing how admi- 



224 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

rably calculated the Lesson System is, for furnishing 
the young with a knowledge of natural science and 
of the arts. One of their little companions being 
raised before them on a bench, they described every 
part of his dress, from the bonnet downwards, detail- 
ing every process and stage of the manufacture. The 
bonnet, which was put on his head for this purpose, 
the coat, the silk-handkerchief, the cotton vest, were 
all traced respectively from the sheep, the egg of the 
silk- worm, and the cotton -pod. The buttons, which 
were of brass, were stated to be a composition of cop- 
per and zinc, which were separately and scientifically 
described, with the reasons assigned, (as good as 
could be given,) for their admixture, in the compo- 
sition of brass." " A lady's parasol, and a gentle- 
man's watch were described in the same manner. 
The ivory knob, the brass crampet, the bamboo, the 
whalebone, the silk, were no sooner adverted to, than 
they were scientifically described. When their atten- 
tion was called to the seals of the gentleman's watch^ 
they immediately said, « These are of pure, and 
those of jeweller's gold,' and described the difference. 
The steel ring was traced to the iron-stone in the 
mine, with a description of the mode of separating 
the metal from its combinations. The processes re- 
quisite for the preparation of wrought-iron from the 
cast-iron, and of steel from the wrought-iron, with the 
distinguishing properties of each of these metals, were 
accurately described, and some practical lessons drawn 
from these properties ; such as, that a knife ought 
never to be put into the fire, and that a razor should 
be dipped in warm water previous to its being used. 
Various articles were collected from individuals in 
the meeting, and successively presented to them, all 
of which they described. India-rubber, cork, sponge, 
pocket combs, &c. A small pocket thermometer, 
with its tube and its mercury, its principles and use^ 
and even the Turkey-leather on the cover, were ail 
fully described. After explaining the nature and 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 225 

properties of coal-gas, one of the boys stated to the 
meeting, that since the commencement of this experi- 
ment, he had himself attempted, and succeeded in 
making gas hght by means of a tobacco-pipe ; — his 
method of doing which he also described.'' 

The other form in which the principle of Analysis 
may, in imitation of Nature, be successfully employed 
in communicating knowledge to the young, is not to 
be considered as new, although the working of the 
principle may not have been very clearly perceived, 
or systematically regulated. It is seen most simply 
perhaps in the division of any subject, — a sermon for 
example — into its great general heads ; and then en- 
deavouring to illustrate these, by sub-dividing each 
into its several particulars. By this means the whole 
subject is bound together, the judgment is healthfully 
exercised, and the memory is greatly assisted in mak- 
ing use of the information communicated. 

It is upon this plan that the several discourses and 
speeches in the Acts of the Apostles have been ana- 
lysed, as an introduction to the teaching of the epistles 
to the young.* Upon the same principle depends the 
success of the " Analysis of Prayer,'"* of which we 
shall afterwards have to speak ; and it is by means 
of this principle, in connection with the successive 
steps, that the several departments of natural philo- 
sophy are proposed to be taught. 

The efficiency of the principle in this form, as ap- 
plied to the teaching of natural philosophy to mere 
school boys, has been ascertained by numerous expe- 
riments, of which the one in Aberdeen, alreadv al- 
luded to, has afforded good evidence. But the expe- 
riment conducted in Newry, on account of several 
concurrent circumstances? is still more remarkable 
and appropriate, and to it therefore we propose briefly 
to refer. 



:Note Q. 



226 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

In the year 1830, the writer, in passing through 
the town of Newry on his way to DubKn, was waited 
upon by several Sunday school teachers, and was re- 
quested to afford them some information as to teaching 
their schools, and for that purpose to hold a meeting 
with them and their fellow teachers, before leaving 
the place. To this he readily agreed ; but as he in- 
tended to go to Dublin by the coach, which passed 
through Newry in the afternoon, the meeting had to 
take place that same day at two o'clock. At that 
meeting, the Earl of Kilmorey and a party of his 
friends were very unexpectedly present ; and they, 
after the business of the meeting was over, joined 
with the others in requesting him to postpone his de- 
parture, and to hold a public meeting on the following 
Tuesday, of which due intimation would be given, 
and many teachers in the neighbourhood, who must 
otherwise be greatly disappointed, would be able to 
attend." To this request, accordingly, he at once 
acceded. 

«' In visiting the schools next day, the propriety of 
preparing a class or two of children for the public 
meeting was suggested and approved of; and the 
day-teacher being applied to, gave Mr Gall a list of 
six of his boys for the purpose. With these children 
he met on Monday ; and after instructing them in 
the doctrines of the Gospel, and teaching them how 
to draw lessons from Scripture, he began to teach 
them some parts of natural philosophy, and to draw 
lessons also from these. I'heir aptness, and eagerness 
to learn, suggested the idea of selecting one of the 
sciences, and confining their attention principally to 
it, for the purpose of ascertaining how much of the 
really useful parts of it they could acquire and learn 
to use, in the short space of time which must inter- 
vene between that period and the hour of meeting. 
Considering what would be most useful and interest- 
ing, rather than what would be most easy, he hastily 
fixed on the science of anatomy and physiology. 



THE FIiILOSOPHY OF EDTCATION. 227 

and resolved to mark the time during wiiich they 
were encased with him in learninof it. These lessons 
were altogether oral and catechetical, — as neither he 
nor the children at that time had any books to assist 
them in their labours. 

" The method adopted by Mr Gall in communicat- 
ing a knowledge of this important and difficult science 
to these school-boys, was strictly analytical ; — classi- 
fying and connecting every part of his subject, and 
bringing out the several branches of the analysis in 
natural order, so that the connection of all the parts 
was easily seen, and of course well remembered. An 
illustration of his method may induce some parents 
to try it themselves. 

" He first directed their attention to the bones, and 
taught them in a few words their nature and uses, as 
the pillars and safeguards of the body ; — the shank, 
the joint, and the ligaments, forming the branches of 
this part of the analysis. He then led them to 
imagine these bones clothed with the fleshy parts, or 
muscles, of which the mass, the ligaments, and the 
sinews, formed the branches. He explained the na- 
ture of their contraction ; and shewed them, that the 
muscles being fastened at one end by the ligament to 
a bone, its contraction pulled the sinew at the other, 
and thus bent the joint which lay between them. — 
He then taught them the nature and uses of the 
several viscera, which occupy the chest and belly, and 
their connection with each other. This prepared the 
way for considering the nature of the fluids of the 
body, particularly the blood, and its circulation from 
the heart and lungs by the arteries, and to them again 
by the veins, with the pulsation of the one, and the 
valves of the other. The passage of the blood 
through the lungs, and the uses of the air-cells and 
blood-vessels in that organ were described ; when the 
boys, (having previously had a lesson on the nature of 
water, atmospheric air, and the gases,) readily under- 
stood the importance of bringing the oxygen into 



228 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

contact with the blood, for its renovation from the 
venous to the arterial state. The nature of the sto- 
mach and of digestion, of the intestines, lacteals, and 
absorbents, was next explained, more in regard to 
their nature than their names, — which last were most 
difficult to remember; — but the knowledge of the 
function, invariably assisted the memory in recalling 
the name of the organ. They were next made ac- 
quainted with the brain, the spinal cord, and the 
nervous system generally, as the source of motion in 
the muscles, and the medium of sensation in convey- 
ing intelligence from the several organs of sense to 
the brain, by which alone the soul, in some way un- 
known, receives intelligence of outward objects. 
This prepared the way for an account of the organs 
of sense, and the mechanism of their parts ; and lastly, 
they were made acquainted with the integuments, 
skin, hair, and nails, with the most obvious of their 
peculiarities. — On all these they were assiduously and 
repeatedly catechised, till the truths were not only 
understood, but were in some degree familiar to 
them. In this they were greatly assisted by a con- 
sideration of their own bodies ; which Mr Gall took 
care to make a kind of text-book, not only for mak- 
ing him better understood, but for enabling them 
more easily and permanently to remember what he 
told them. When he shewed them, by their hands, 
feet, and face, the ramifications of the blood-vessels 
and nerves, — the mechanism of the joints, — the con- 
traction of the various muscles, — the situation and 
particular uses of which he himself did not even know, 
but which were nevertheless moved at their own will, 
and whenever they pleased, — the young anatomists 
were greatly pleased and astonished ; and this added 
to their eagerness for farther information, and to 
their zeal in shewing that they understood, and were 
able again to communicate it. 

" These preparatory meetings were never protracted 
to any great extent, as the whole time was divided 



tllE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 229 

into three or four portions, — the boys being dismissed 
to think over the subject, (for they had nothing to 
read,) and to meet again at a certain hour. The 
watch was again produced, and the time marked ; 
and when the whole period occupied by this science 
and its connections was added together, it amounted 
to two hours and a half exactly. One of these lessons, 
and the longest, was given during a stroll in the fields. 
" The public meeting of parents and teachers was 
held at Newry on the 5th of October ISSO, when the 
above class> with others, were examined on the 
religious knowledge which had been communicated 
to them on the previous days, with its lessons and 
uses ; after which the six boys were taken by them- 
selves, and thoroughly and searchingly catechised on 
their knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of 
the human body. They were examined first on the 
nature and uses of the bones, their shapes, substance, 
joints, and ligaments. Then on the nature and 
offices of the muscles, with their blood-vessels, nerves, 
ligaments, sinews, and motions ;■ — the uses of the 
several viscera ; — the heart with its pulsations, its 
power, its ventricles and auricles, and their several 
uses ; — the lungs, with their air-cells, blood-vessels, 
and their use in arterializing the blood ; — the stomach, 
intestines, &c. with their peristaltic motions, lacteals, 
&c. ; — the brain, spinal cord, and nerves, with their 
connections, ramifications, and uses ; — the senses, with 
their several organs, their mechanism, and their man- 
ner of acting. On all these they were questioned, 
and cross-questioned, in every variety of form : And 
that the audience might be satisfied that this was not 
a mere catalogue of names, but that in fact the 
physiology of the several parts was really known, 
and would be remembered, even if the names of the 
organs should be forgotten, they were made re- 
peatedly to traverse the connecting links of the analysis 
forward from the root, through its several branches, 
to the extreme limit in the ultimate effect ; and, at 

u 



S30 PKACTICAL ENaU/RY INTO 

other times backward, from the ultimate effect to the 
primitive organ, or part of the body from which it 
took its origin. For example? they could readily 
trace forward the movement of the arm joint, or any 
other joint, from the ligament of the muscle at its 
junction with the bone, through its contraction by 
the nerve at the fiat of the will, by which the sinew 
of the muscle, fastened at the opposite side of the 
joint, is pulled, and the joint bent;- — or they could 
trace backward any of the operations of the senses, — ■ 
the sight, for example, from the object seen, through 
the coats of the eye, to the inverted picture of it 
formed upon the retina, which communicated the 
sensation to the optic nerve, by which it was con- 
veyed to the brain. In all which they invariably 
succeeded, and shewed that the whole was clearly and 
connectedly understood. 

«« When this had been minutely and extensively 
done on the several parts of the body, some medical 
gentlemen who were present were requested to cate- 
chise them on any of the topics they had learnt, for 
the purpose of assuring themselves and the audience 
that the children really and familiarly understood 
all that they had been catechised upon. One of 
the medical gentlemen, for himself and the others 
present, then stated publicly to the meeting, that 
the extent of the children's knowledge of this diffi- 
cult science was beyond any thing that they could 
have conceived. And afterwards affirmed, that'he had 
seen students who had attended the medical classes 
for six months, who did not know so much of the 
human body as these children now did.'"* 

This experiment became more remarkable from d. 
circumstance which took place within a few days 
afterwards, and which tended still more strongly to 
prove the permanence and efficiency of this method 
of imitating Nature; shewing, not only that truth 
when commtmicated as Nature directs, is easily re-* 
ceivedj and permanently retained upon the memory^ 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 231 

« 

but that all such truths when thus communicated, be- 
come more and more familiar to the mind, and more 
decidedly under the controul, and at the command 
of the will. The circumstance is thus recorded in 
the account of the experiment* from which we have 
already quoted. 

" At the close of the meeting, Mr Gall took fare- 
well of his young friends, not expecting to have the 
pleasure of seeing them again ; and (after a promised 
visit to Ravensiile,) he proceeded on the following 
Thursday to Rostrevor, where he found a numerous 
audience, (publicly called together by Lady Lifford, 
the Rev. Mr Jacobs, and others, to receive him,) 
already assembled. 

" Here, in the course of teaching a class of chil- 
dren brought to him for the first time, and explain- 
ing the nature and capabilities of the system, re- 
ference was made to the above experiment only a 
few days before in their neighbourhood at Newry. 
Two gentlemen, -f- officially and intimately connected 
with the Kildare Place Society of Dublin, being 
accidentally present, were at their own desire intro- 
duced to Mr Gall bv a clerical friend after the close 
of the exercises. The circumstances of the Newry 
experiment, which had been mentioned during the 
meeting, were strongly doubted, till affirmed by the 
clerical friend who introduced them ; who, having 
been present and witnessed it, assured them that the 
circumstances connected with the event had not been 
exaggerated. They then stated, that it must of 
necessity have been a mere transient glimpse received 
of the science by the children ; which, being easily 
got, would be as easily lost ; and that its evanescent 
nature would without all question be found, by their 

* Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i. p. 267, 
and Effects of the Lesson System, p. 37. 

•j- Counsellor Jackson, M. P, Secretary to the Kildare Place 
Society, and Mr Hamilton, brother-in-law to the Duke of Welling- 
tou, oue of the Committee. 



232 PRACTICAL Ei'QUIIlY INTO 

almost immediately having forgotten the whole of 
what had been told them. Mr GalU however, as- 
sured them, that so far from that being the case, he 
was convinced, from long experience, that the infor- 
mation communicated would be much more lasting 
than that received in any other way. That the im- 
pressions, so repeatedly made upon their minds by 
the catechetical eojercises^ would remain with them 
very likely through life ; while the effect of the ana^ 
lytical mode, by which he had linked the whole to- 
gether, would prevent any of the important branches 
from ever being separated from the rest. If, there- 
fore, they remembered any of the truths, they would 
most probably remember all. And besides, he 
shewed, that the daily use? in the ordinary business 
of life, which they would find for the lessons from 
the truths taught, would revive part, and perhaps 
the whole, upon their memories every day. But as 
it was of importance that they should be satisfied, 
and to set the matter at rest, he agreed to call the 
boys uneoopededly together at another public meeting 
in Newry, where they might be present and judge 
for themselves ; and without seeing or talking with 
the boys, he would examine them again publicly, 
and as extensively as before ; when he was convinced 
they would shew, that the whole was as fresh on 
their memories as when they at first received it. In 
short, that they would be able to undergo the most 
searching ordeal, with equal, if not greater ease, than 
they had done formerly. 

" This was accordingly done. A meeting took place 
next day, equally respectable, and perhaps more nu- 
merous than the former, to which the boys were 
brought from their school, without preparation, or 
knowing what they were to be asked. They were 
then more fully and searchinglv examined than at 
first ; and there being more time, they were much 
longer under the exercise. It was then found, that 
the information formerly communicated was not only 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 233 

remembered, but that the several truths were much 
more familiar, in themselves and in their connection 
with each other, than they had been at the former 
meeting. This had evidently arisen from their own 
frequent meditations upon them since that time, and 
their application of the several lessons, either with 
one another, their parents, or themselves. The 
medical gentlemen were again present, and professed 
themselves equally pleased."** 

From the number and variety of these facts, which 
might be indefinitely extended, it is obvious, that 
a new path lies open to the Educationist, which, as^ 
yet, has been scarcely entered upon. The same 
amount of success is at the command of every teacher 
who will follow in the same course, and keep rigidly 
in the path pointed out to him by Nature. 



CHAP. VII. 

On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the 
Practical Use of Knowledge, 

The third step in the educational process of Na- 
ture we have found to be, the training of her pupil to 
the practical use of his knowledge. — All her other 
processes, we have seen from numerous circumstances*, 
are merely preparatory and subservient to this ; 
and therefore, the attempt at imitation here by the 
teacher is of corresponding importance. The practi- 
cal application of knowledge must be the great end 
of all the pupil's learning ; and the parent or teacher 
should conduct his exercises and labours in such a 
manner as shall be most likely to attain it. The 
powers of the mind are to be cultivated ; — but they 
are to be cultivated chiefly that the pupil may be 
able to collect and make use of his knowledge : — And 
knowledge is to be pursued and stored up ; — but 
this is to be done that it may remain at his command, 
and be readily put to use when it is required. To sup- 
u 3 



234 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

pose any thing else, is to suppose something directly 
opposed to all the indications of Nature, and to the 
plainest suggestions both of reason and experience. 

If in this department then, the teacher is to imi- 
tate Nature with effect, there are two preliminary 
objects of which he ought never to lose sight. The 
first is, that he studiously select from the numerous 
subjects which may form the staple of education, 
those only, or at least chiefly, which are to be most 
useful, and which may most easily and most frequent- 
ly be put to use by the pupil ; — and the second is, 
that whatever be the truth or the subject taught, the 
child should, at the time of learning, be instructed 
in the methods and the circumstances in which it may 
be used. To neglect these preliminary points, is really 
to betray the cause of education, and, besides inflicting 
a lasting injury on the young, to deceive the public. 

In our enquiries into Nature's method of applying 
knowledge, we found, in a former chapter, that she 
employs two distinct agencies in the work. The one 
we denominated the Natural, or Common Sense; 
and the other is the Conscience, or Moral Sense: — 
the one appearing to regulate our knowledge in so 
far as it refers to the promotion of our own personal 
and physical comforts ; and the other, in so far as it 
refers to the rights and the well-being of others, and 
to our own moral good. The method which she em- 
ploys in working out these two principles, is, as we be- 
fore explained, very nearly the same ; consisting of the 
perception of some useful truth, — the deduction of a 
lesson from that truth, — and the application of that 
lesson to corresponding circumstances. On that ac- 
count, our attempts to imitate her operations as ex- 
hibited by the one, will, in form, be nearly the same 
as in the other. We shall here, therefore, attend to 
the methods by which Nature may be successfully 
imitated under both agencies, and shall than state a 
few illustrations and facts which are more peculiarly 
applicable to each in particular. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 235 

Before doing this, however, we cannot help once 
more pressing upon the mind of all connected with edu- 
cation, the great importance — the necessity — of that 
part of the subject upon which we are now to enter. 
We have said, and we again repeat, that this is edu- 
cation ; and every thing else taught to a child is, or 
ought to be, either preliminary or supplementary ; — 
belonging to education, perhaps, but not education 
itself. It \s practice, and not theory, that constitutes 
the basis of all improvement, whether in the arts, or 
in morals and religion ; and it is to this practical ap- 
plication of what he learns, that every child should 
be trained, by whatever name the mode of doing 
so may be known. All our blessings are destined 
to come to us by the use of proper means ; and this 
general principle applies both to temporal and spiri- 
tual matters. Now " the use of means," is only 
another mode of expressing " the practical application 
of knowledge."" And if so, what are we to think of 
the philosophy or the candour of the person, who is 
apparently the friend of education, but Avho remains 
indifferent or hostile to the thing itself, merely be- 
cause it is presented to him under another name. He 
may be a zealous advocate for the spread of know- 
ledge ; — but that is not education. — Knowledge is but 
the meansi — the application of it is the end ; and when 
therefore he stops short at the communication of 
knowledge, while he is indifferent to the teaching of 
its use, he endangers the whole of his previous labour. 
One single truth put to use, is of more real value 
to a child than a thousand are, as long as they re- 
main unused ; and of this, every friend of the young 
ought to be convinced. Our health, our food, and 
our general happiness depend, not on knowledge re- 
ceived, but on knowledge applied ; and therefore, to 
teach knowledge that is inapplicable or useless, or to 
teach useful knowledge without teaching at the same 
time how it may be put to use by the pupil, is neither 
reasonable nor just. Hence the importance of our 



236 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

present in\ estigalion ; and hence we have no hesitation 
in saying, that the enquiry, " How can Nature be 
most successfully imitated in her application of 
knowledge?" is the most momentous question that 
can be put by the teacher ; and a successful answer 
will constitute the most precious boon that can be 
afforded to education. To assist in this enquiry is 
the design of the present chapter; and we shall 
accordingly examine a little more in detail the 
circumstances that take place in the experience of 
the young, when they are induced to apply their 
knowledge under the guidance of Nature, and with- 
out another teacher. 

For this purpose, let us suppose two children about 
to cross a piece of soft ground. The one goes for- 
ward, and his foot sinks in the mud. Does the other 
follow him ? No indeed. The most stupid child we 
could find, if within the limits of sanity, would im- 
mediately stand still, or seek a passage at another 
point. Here then is an example of the way in which 
children, while entirely under the guidance of Nature, 
make use of their knowledge, by applying the prin- 
ciple of which we are here speaking in cases of 
urgency and danger ; and we shall now endeavour ta 
analyse the process, that we may the more readily 
arrive at some exercise, by which it may be artificially 
imitated, whether the application be urgent and re- 
quired at the moment or not. 

We have supposed one child going forward on the 
soft ground, v/hile the other is slowly following him. 
When the foot of the first sinks, the other instantly 
stands still ; and a spectator can perceive, better 
perhaps than the child himself, that something like 
the following mental process takes place on the oc- 
casion. The child thinks with himself, " Tom's foot 
has sunk; if I go forward, I also will sink; I will 
therefore stand still, or cross at another place.'' This 
is an exact parallel to thousands of similar instances 
which come under the notice of parents and others, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 237 

every day ; and is a process quite familiar to adults 
who have paid any attention to the operation of their 
own minds when similarly circumstanced. When it 
is analysed, we find it to consist, as shewn in a for- 
mer chapter, of three distinct parts, not one of which 
can be left out if the effect is to be produced. There 
is always, at the commencement of such an operation, 
the knowledge of some fact ; *' Tom's foot has sunk.""* 
There is, secondly, an inference or lesson drawn from 
this knowledge, '* If I go forward, I also will sink.*' 
And there is, thirdly, the practical application of that 
lesson, or inference, to the child's present circumstan- 
ces ; '* I will stand still, or cross at another place.*"' 

It is this process, or one in every point similar, 
that takes place in the mind, either of the young or 
the old, whenever they apply the facts gleaned by 
observation or experience for the guidance of their 
conduct. Now what we are at present in search of, 
is an e-xercise applicable to readiiig, as well as to ob- 
servation; — to the schooh as well as to the play ground 
or the parlour ; — and to knowledge ^vhose use may 
not be required at the instant, as well as that to 
which we are driven by necessity. 

The desideratum here desired is to be found by the 
teacher in the method, now very extensively known^ 
of drawing lessons from useful truths, and then ap- 
plying them to the future probable circumstances of 
the pupils. For example, when a child reads, or is 
told that Jacob was punished by God for cheating 
his brother and telling a lie, the great object of the 
parent or teacher is to render these truths practical y 
— which the question, " What does that teach you .^'' 
never fails to do. The child, as soon as he knows the 
design of his teacher in communicating practical 
truths, and is asked the above question, will tell him, 
that he ought never to cheat his neighbour, or tell a 
lie. The application of these lessons, when thus €>s- 
tablished as a rule of duty founded on Scripture, is 
as extensive as the circumstances in which they may 



238 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

l)e required are various ; — and the teacher has only 
to suppose such a case, and to ask his pupil, if he were 
placed in these circumstances, what he should do. 
The dullest of his children will at once perceive the 
duty, and the source from which he derives confidence 
in performing it. 

There is no difficulty, as we have seen, in drawing 
and applying practical lessons in cases of urgency, 
where experience and the common sense of the indi- 
vidual prompt him to it ; — and this attempt to imitate 
Nature in less urgent cases, and especially in hearing, 
or in the more artificial operation of reading, has 
been found in experience to be completely successful. 
We shall endeavour to point this out by a few fa^ 
miliar examples. 

Let us for this purpose suppose, that one of the 
boys formerly mentioned is accompanied by his teach- 
er, instead of his companion, and is approaching the 
soft ground which lies between them and the house. 
Before they arrive at the spot, his teacher tells him, 
that the marsh before them is so soft that even a 
child's foot would sink if he attempted to tread upon 
it. The boy might hear, and perfectly understand 
the truth, and yet he might not at the time think of 
the use to which it ought to be put. But if the teach- 
er shall immediately add, " What does that teach 
you ?"" — his attention would instantly be called, not 
so much to the truth itself, as to the uses which ought 
to be made of it, and his answer in such a plain case 
would be ready, " We must not cross there, but seek 
a road to the house by some other way.'' Now here 
the fact was verbally communicated ; and although 
the object was in sight, and the use of the fact might 
in some measure have been anticipated so as to sug- 
gest the answer, yet a little consideration will shew, 
that a similar effect would have been produced by 
the question, had the parties been in the house, or 
had the truth been derived from reading, and not 
from the oral communication of the teacher. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 239 

it is the want of something like this in the acquisi- 
tion of truth by books, which renders that kind 
of knowledge in general of so little practical benefit. 
The truths and facts learned while attending school^ 
are too often received as mere abstractions, without re- 
ference to their uses, or to the personal application of 
those uses to the circumstances of the child or his 
companions. Events daily occur in which the pupil's 
knowledge might be of important service ; — but the 
benefits to be derived from it not having been taught, 
and the method of applying the facts which he has 
acquired by reading not having been explained, — the 
knowledge and its uses are seldom seen together, and 
the practical benefit of the teaching is accordingly 
lost. This at once accounts for the very remarkable 
circumstance, that children, and not unfrequently 
adults also, derive far more benefit from the scanty 
knowledge v/hich they have gleaned by observation 
and experience, than from the many thousands of 
highly useful facts which have again and again been 
pressed upon their notice by reading and study. In 
almost every case Nature prompts us, as Ave have seen, 
to turn to our own benefit the knowledge which she 
has imparted ; but as the mode of teaching reading, 
which is the artificial method of acquiring informa- 
tion, often overlooks the use we are to make of it, we 
remain satisfied with the knowledge itself, and do 
not think of its application. To illustrate this fact 
in some measure, let us suppose a basket of fil- 
berts set down for the use of a company of boys^ 
and that one of them tries to crack the shells with 
his front teeth. He fails. But he sees his com- 
panions put the nuts farther back in the mouth, 
and succeed. Does he lose his share, by continuing 
to misapply the lever-power provided for him by 
Nature ? — IVo indeed. He, by a single observation, at 
once draws and applies the lesson ; — he immediately 
cracks his nuts as readily as his companions^, and he 
continues to do so all his lifetime after. But the same 



240 Practical ENauiRY iuto 

boy may have, that very forenoon, been reading a 
treatise on the power of the lever, and might read it 
again and again without considering himself at all in- 
terested in the matters or thinking it probable that he 
ever would. His reading, without the application we 
are here recommending, would never have led him to 
perceive the slightest similarity between the fulcrum 
of the lever, and the insertion of his jaw; or any 
connection between the lesson of the school, and the 
employment of the parlour : — But that would. 

This is but one of a thousand examples that might 
be given, of the evils arising from the non-application 
of knowledge in reading, and which are applicable, not 
to children merely, but also to adults. The drawing 
and applying of lessons, the exercise which we are here 
recommending, has been found a valuable remedy for 
this defect in ordinary reading. The object of the 
teacher by its use, is to accomplish in the pupil by read- 
ing, what we have shewn Nature so frequently does by 
observation ; — that is, to train the child to apply for his 
own use, or the use of others, those truths which he ac- 
quires from his hook, in the same way that he does 
those which he derives from eooperience. To illus- 
trate this, w^e shall instance a few cases of every day 
occurrence, in which the question, " What does this 
teach you ?''' when supplemented to the fact com- 
municated, will almost invariably answer the purpose 
desired, whether the truth from which the lesson is 
to be drawn, has been received by observation, by 
oral instruction, or by reading. 

When an observing well-disposed child sees a 
school-fellow praised and rewarded for being obliging 
and kind to the aged or the poor, there is formed in 
the mind of that child, more or less distinctly, a reso* 
lution to follow the example on the first opportunity. 
Here is the fact and the lesson, with the application 
in prospect. This whole feeling may be faint and 
evanescent, but it is real ; and it only wants the culti- 
vating hand of the teacher to arrest it, and to render 



THE PHII-O SOPHY OF EDUCATION. 24-1 

it permanent. Accor(lingl_y, if on the child hearing 
the praise given to his companion for being kind 
and obliging to the poor, he had at the time been 
asked, "What does that teach you?'" the lesson 
suggested by Nature would instantly have assumed 
a tangible form ; and in communicating the answer to 
the teacher, both the truth and the lesson would have 
been brought more distinctly before the mind, and the 
reply, " I should be kind and obliging to the poor," 
would tend to fix the duty on the memory, and would 
be a good preparation for putting it in practice when 
the next occasion should occur. 

Again, if another thoughtful and well disposed 
child sees a companion severely punished for telling 
a lie, the question, '' What does that teach me ?'' is 
in some shape or degree formed in his mind, and his 
resolution, however faint, is taken to avoid that sin 
in future. This, it is obvious, is nothing more than 
a practical answer to the above question, forced upon 
the child by the directness of the circumstances, but 
which would not have so readily made its appearance, 
or produced its effect, in cases of a less obtrusive 
kind, or in one of more remote application ; and every 
person must see, that the beneficial effects desired 
would have been more definite, more effectual, and 
much more permanent, had this faint indication of 
Nature's intention been followed up by orally asking 
the question at the child, and requiring him audibly 
to return an answer. 

Let us once more suppose a child in the act of 
reading the history of Cain and Abel, in the manner 
in which it is commonly read by the young, and that 
the child thoroughly understands all the circumstan- 
ces. He may be deeply interested in the story, 
while the uses to be made of it may not be very 
clearly perceived. But if, after reading any one of 
the moral circumstances, such as " Cain hated his 
brother,"' or after having it announced to him by the 
teacher, he was asked, " What does that teach you ?'^ 

X 



242 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

the practical use of the truth would at once be forced 
upon his mind, and he would now very readily an- 
swer, "It teaches me that I should not hate my 
brother." In this case also, it is quite obvious, that 
without such a question having been proposed, and 
the answer to it given, the practical uses of the truth 
recorded might have been altogether overlooked ; 
and even although they had not, still the question and 
its answer will always have the effect of making them 
stand out much more prominently before the mindj 
and will enable the memory to hold them more tena- 
ciously, and bring them forth more readily for prac- 
tice, than if such an operation had been neglected. 
Hence the great importance of training the young 
by this exercise early to perceive the uses of every 
kind of knowledge, particularly Scriptural know- 
ledge ; because the habit formed in youth, will con- 
tinue to render every useful truth of practical benefit 
during life. 

We may remark here, that the exercise is not 
limited in its application to the young. For if an 
adult were first told, that the squalid beggar before 
him, though once respectable and rich, had made 
himself wretched by a course of idleness and dissipa- 
tion, and were then asked, " What does that teach 
you ?" he would instantly perceive the lesson, and 
would be stimulated to apply it. When, in like 
manner, the farmer is told that his neighbour has 
ruined himself by over-cropping his ground ; or the 
iron master, that the use of the hot-blast has doubled 
the profits of his rival ; a similar question would at 
once lead to the legitimate conclusion, and most likely 
to the proper conduct. 

In ail these examples, the operation of mind which 
we have endeavoured to describe, is so exceedingly 
simple, that it is perhaps difficult to decide how 
much is the work of Nature, and how much belongs 
to the exercise here recommended. This at once 
proves its efficiency, as an imitation of her process, in 



THE THILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 243 

following her in the path which she has here pointed 
out ; and it at the same time recommends itself as 
strictly accordant with observation and experience. 
The teacher then, in order to render the knowledge 
he communicates useful, has only to do regularly 
and by system, that which, under the direction of 
Nature, every intelligent and enquiring mind in its 
best moments does for itself. Wherever a useful 
truth has been communicated in the school or family, 
or a moral act or precept has been read or announced, 
the question by the parent or the teacher, " What 
does that teach you ?'' will lead the pupil to reflec- 
tion, not only on its nature, but on its use ; and the 
ability to do so, as we shall afterwards see, may be 
acquired by almost any individual with ease. Regu- 
lar training in this way, leads directly to habits of 
reflection and observation, which are of themselves 
of great value ; but which, when found acting in 
connection with the desire and ability to turn every 
truth observed into a practical channel, become 
doubly estimable, and a public blessing. The pupil 
therefore ought early to be trained of himself to sup- 
plement the question, " What does this teach me ?'"* 
or, " What can I learn from this .?" to every circum- 
stance or truth to which his attention is called ; be- 
cause the ability to answer it forms the chief, if not 
the only correct measure of a well educated person. 
In proof of this it is only necessary to remark, that 
as it is not the man who has accumulated the greatest 
amount of anatomical and surgical knovvledge, but 
he who can make the best use of it, that is really the 
best surgeon ; so it is not the man who has acquired 
the largest portion of knowledge, but he who can 
make the best use of the largest portion, that is 
the best scholar. Hence it is, that all the exercises 
in a child's education should have in view the practi- 
cal use of what he learns, and of what he is to con- 
tinue through life to learn, as the great end to which 
all his learning should be subservient. 



244 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

The moral advantages likely to result from the 
general adoption of this mode of teaching useful 
knowledge are exceedingly cheering, and the only 
surprise is, that it has been so long overlooked. That 
the principle, though not directly applied to the 
purposes of education, was well known, and frequently 
practised by our forefathers, appears obvious from 
many of their valuable writings. One beautiful ex- 
ample of its apphcation is familiar to thousands, 
though not always perceived, in the illustration given 
of the Lord's prayer towards the close of the Assem- 
bly's Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The study of 
the lessons there drawn from the truths stated or 
implied in that prayer, will afford a better idea of 
the value of this mode of teaching, than perhaps any 
farther explanation we could give, and to these there, 
fore we refer the reader. 

Before closing these general observations upon 
the value and necessity of this method of training 
the young to the practical use of knowledge, there 
is a circumstance which should not be omitted, 
as it tends to double all the advantages of the ex- 
ercise, both to the teacher and the pupil. It will 
be found in general, especially in morals, that every 
practical lesson that is drawn from a truth or 
passage, actually embodies two, — both of which are 
equally legitimate and counected with the subject. 
There is always a negative lesson implied, when the 
positive lesscm is expressed ; and there is in like man- 
ner a positive implied, whenever it is the negative 
that is expressed. As for example, when the child, 
from the history of Cain and Abel, draws the nega- 
tive lesson that he should not hate his brother ; the 
opposite of that lesson is equally binding in the posi- 
tive form, that he should love his brother. And 
when, from the history of Job, the positive lesson is 
drawn that we ought to be patient ; the negative of 
that lesson becomes equally binding, and the child 
may, by the very same fact, be taught and enjoined 



THE PiriLOSOPIIY OF EDUCATION. 245 

not to be fretful, discontented, or impatient, during 
sickness or trouble. Of this method of multiplying- 
the practical uses of knowledge, we have a most ap- 
propriate example in the Assembly's Larger and 
Shorter Catechisms, where the illustrations given of 
the decalogue are conducted upon this important 
principle, and in a similar way. 



CHAP. VIII. 

On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of 
Knowledge hy means of the Animal or Common 

Sense. 

A LARGE portion of what has been advanced in 
the foregoing chapter, has reference to the practical 
application of ^11 kinds of knowledge, whether by 
the Animal or Moral sense ; and we shall here offer 
a few additional remarks on the teaching of those 
branches which are more immediately connected with 
the former. 

When a person is sent to learn an art or trade, 
such as a carpenter, he is not sent to hear lectures, 
or to get merely an abstract knowledge of the several 
truths connected with it ; but he is sent to practise 
the little knowledge that he is able of himself to pick 
up. His is a practical learning; ninety-nine parts 
in every hundred being employed in the practice, for 
one that is employed in acquiring the abstract prin- 
ciples of his occupation. When, on the contrary, a 
child is sent to school, to prepare him for this practi- 
cal application of his knowledge, the former propor- 
tions are generally reversed, and ninety-nine parts of 
his time and labour are taken up in attaining abstract 
knowledge, for one that is occupied in assisting him 
to reduce it to practice. Both modes of teaching the 
boy are obviously wrong. He would,, when sent to 
it, learn his business in much less time by a previous 
acquaintance vvith its principles ; and all these ought 
x3 



246 PRACTICAL EXaniRY INTO 

to have been furnished him as a part of his general 
knowledge while he attended the school. Such in- 
formation, indeed, ought to have formed a large por- 
tion of his education ; — and it will be a matter of 
surprise to every one who closely considers the sub- 
ject, how soon and how easily the principles, even of so 
complicated a trade as a carpenter, may be acquired 
when they are taught in the right way, and at the 
proper time. A few of the simplest principles in 
mechanics practically learned, — a knowledge of the 
strength and adhesion of bodies, — of the nature of 
edge tools, — and the importance of accuracy and 
caution, might have been made familiar to him while 
attending his studies ; and if carefully and constantly 
reduced to practice, these would have been of the 
greatest service to him when called to the work-shop. 

The methods by which natural philosophy ought 
to be taught in scliools, must partake of all the laws 
which Nature employs in the several parts of her 
teaching. Individuation, Grouping, and especially 
Analysis, must be rigidly attended to. By dividing 
all the subjects of general knowledge into the two 
grand divisions of Terrestial and Celestial, and these 
again into their several parts, the whole field of 
useful knowledge would be mapped out, and con- 
nected together, so that each subject would occupy 
a distinct place of its own, and be readily found 
when it was required. The facts, or at least the 
most useful facts connected with each of these, 
would very soon be communicated ; and when turned 
into a popular and useful form, by drawing and 
applying the corresponding lessons, the ease and 
delight of laying up these precious stores of useful 
knowledge by children, will not be easily conceived 
by those who have not witnessed it. 

With respect to the ease with which this method 
of communicating knowledge can be accomplished, 
we may remark in general, that when a principle 
has been explained, and has become familiar to the 



THE I'HILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 2^7 

child, all the phenomena arising out of it, when 
pointed out, are readily perceived and retained upon 
the memory in connection with it. For example, by 
a knowledge of the principle which teaches that fluids 
press equally on all sides, when considered in con- 
nection with the weight of the atmosphere, a child, 
with very little trouble, vvould be put into the full 
possession of the cause of many facts in natural phi- 
losophy, exceedingly dissimilar in their appearance, 
but which are all mastered with ease and intelligence 
by a knowledge of this law. When the principle 
and its mode of working have been explained, the 
child is provided with a key, by which he may, 
in the exercise of his own powers, unlock one bv one 
all the mysterious phenomena of the air and common 
pump, the cupping-glass, the barometer, the old 
steam and fire engine, the toy sucker and pop gun, 
the walking of a fly on the ceiling, the ascent of 
smoke in the chimney, the sipping of tea from a cup, 
the sucking of a wound, and the true cause of the 
inspiration and expiration of the air in breathing. 
To teach these singly, would obviously be exceed- 
ingly troublesome to the teacher, and laborious for 
the child ; but when thus linked together, as similar 
effects from the same cause, they are understood at 
once, and each of them helps to illustrate and explain 
all the others. They are received without confusion, 
and are remembered without difficulty. All this may 
in general be done even with children, as we shall 
immediately prove, by the method recommended 
above, of requiring, after the illustration of the 
principle, the lessons which it is calculated to teach. 
The results of this simple method of imitating 
Nature in one of the most valuable of her processes, 
have been found remarkably uniform and successful ; 
and when it shall be regularly brought into operation 
in connection with the other parts of the system, it 
promises to be still more valuable and extensive. 
But even already, with all the disadvantages of time, 



24-8 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

place, and persons, the importance and efficiency of 
the exercise have been highly satisfactory. We shall 
shortly advert to a few instances of its success, which 
have been publicly exhibited and recorded. 

The criminals in the jail of Edinburgh, after three 
weeks teaching, had acquired a considerable degree 
of expertness in perceiving and drawing lessons from 
the moral circumstances which they read from Scrip- 
ture. In the report of that experiment, the exami- 
nators say, " They gave a distinct account, (from 
the book of Genesis,) of the prominent facts, from 
Adam, down to the settlement in Goshen, and shewed 
by their answers, that the circumstances were under- 
stood by them, in their proper nature and bearings. 
From each peculiar circumstance, they deduced an 
appropriate lesson, calculated to guide their conduct, 
when placed in a like, or analogous situation. It is 
within the truth to allege, that in this part of their 
examination, they submitted upwards of fifty palpable 
lessons, that cannot fail, we would conceive, hereafter 
to have a powerful influence upon their affections and 
deportment." 

In the experiments both in Newry and London > 
the children were found quite adequate to the exer- 
cise; and in the latter instance, three children^ 
who at their first lesson did not know they had 
a soul, were able to perceive and to draw lessons 
from almost any moral truth or fact presented ta 
them. This they did repeatedly when publicly exa- 
mined by the Committee of the London Sunday 
School Union, in presence of a large body of clergy- 
men, and a numerous congregation in the Poultry 
Chapel. But we shall at present direct attention 
more particularly to the children selected from the 
several schools in Aberdeen, as given in the Report 
by Principal Jack, and the Professors and Clergy- 
men in that place. After mentioning, that these 
children, so very ignorant only eight days before, 
had acquired a thorough acquaintance with the lead- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 249 

ing facts in Old Testament History, they say, 
" From the various incidents in the Sacred Itecord, 
with which they had thus been brought so closely 
into contact, thev drew, as they proceeded, a variety 
of practical lessons, evincing, that they clearly per- 
ceived, not only the nature and qualities of the ac- 
tions, whether good or evil, of the persons there set 
before them, but the use that ought to be made 
of such descriptions of character, as examples or 
warnings, intended for application to the ordinary 
business of life. 

<« They were next examined, in the same way, on 
several sections of the New Testament, from which 
they had also learned to point out the practical lessons, 
so important and necessary for the regulation of the 
heart and life. The Meeting, as well as this Com- 
mittee, were surprised at the minute and accurate 
acquaintance which they displayed with the multipli- 
city of objects presented to them, — at the great ex- 
tent of the record over which they had travelled, — 
and at the facility with which they seemed to draw 
useful lessons from almost every occurrence men- 
tioned in the passages which they had read." 

They were able also to apply this same principle, — 
the practical application of useful knowledge, — to the 
perusal of civil history^ and also biography. The re- 
port states, that " they were examined on that por- 
tion of the History of England, embraced by the 
reign of Charles I. and the Commonwealth ; and 
from the details of this period, they drew from the 
same circumstances^ or announcements, political, do- 
mestic, and personal lessons, as these applied to a 
nation, to a family, and to individuals ; — lessons 
which it ought be the leading design of history to 
furnish, though, both by the writers and readers of 
history, this Committee are sorry to say, they are 
too generally overlooked. 

" They were then examined on biography, — ^^the 
Life of the late l{ev. John Newton being chosen for 



250 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

that purpose ; from whose history they also drew some 
very useful practical lessons, and seemed very de- 
sirous of enlarging, but had to be restrained, as the 
time would not permit." 

The practicability and the importance of teaching 
children to appl^y the same valuable principle to every 
branch and portion of natural philosophy were also as-, 
certained. The same report, after stating the fact, 
that the children scientifically described to the meet- 
ing numerous objects presented to them from the 
several kingdoms of Nature, goes on to say, that 
«« here also they found no want of capacity or of 
materials for practical lessons. A boy, after de- 
scribing copper as possessing poisonous qualities? and 
stating, that cooking utensils, as well as money? 
were made of it, was asked what practical lessons he 
could draw from these circumstances, replied, That 
no person should put halfpence in his mouth ; and 
that people should take care to keep clean pans and 
kettles." 

The common school boys in Newry also found no 
difficulty in the exercise, as applied to the abstruse 
and difficult sciences of anatomy and physiology. 
The account of that experiment, says? that they were 
^' examined as to the uses which they ought to make 
of all this information, by drawing practical lessons 
from the several truths. Accordingly, announcements 
from the different branches of the science were given, 
from which they now very readily drew numerous and 
valuable practical lessons, several of which were given 
at this time of themselves, and which had not been 
previously taught them. These were drawn directly 
from the announcements ; and all, according to their 
nature, calculated to be exceedingly useful for promot- 
ing the health, the comfort, and the general happi- 
ness of themselves, their friends, or their companions.'"* 

But by far the most extensive and satisfactory 
evidence of the value and efficiency of this exercise, 
in the mental and moral training of the young, was 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION'. 251 

afforded by the experiment undertaken at the re- 
quest of the Lesson System Association of Leitlij 
and conducted in the Assembly Rooms there, in 
the presence of the Magistrates and Clergy of that 
town, of Bishop Russell, Lord Murray, (then 
Lord Advocate,) and a numerous meeting of the 
friends of education. The children were those 
connected with a Sabbath school, who had been re- 
gularly trained by their teacher, a plain but pious 
workman of the town, to draw lessons every Sabbath 
from the several subjects and passages of Scripture 
taught them. To give all the specimens which af- 
ford evidence of the value and efficiency of this exer- 
cise in the education of children, would be to tran^ 
scribe the report of the Association ; we shall therefore 
confine ourselves to a few of the circumstances onlyj 
which were taken in short-hand by a public reporter 
who was present. 

After some important and satisfactory exercises 
on the being and attributes of God, from which the 
children drew many valuable practical lessons, it is 
said, that the examinator " expressed his entire sa- 
tisfaction with the result, and remarked, that he 
himself was astonished, not only at the immense store 
of biblical knowledge possessed by these children, 
but the power which they possessed over it, and the 
facility with which they could, on any occasion, use 
it in ' giving a reason for the hope that is in them.' 
He then proceeded to the next subject of examina- 
tion which had been prescribed to him, which Avas, 
to ascertain the extent of their mental powers and 
literary attainments, which would be most satisfac- 
torily shown by their ability to read, the Bible pro- 
fitably ; and for this purpose he requested that some 
of the clergymen present would suggest any passage 
from the New Testament on which to exercise them. 
The Rev. Dr Russell (now Bishop Russell,) sug- 
gested the parable of the labourers hired at different 
hours, Matt. xx. 1 — 16. Mr Gall accordingly read 



2')2 PJIACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

it distinctly, verse by verse, catechising the children 
as he proceeded, and then made them relate the whole 
in their own words, which they did most correctly. 

" Mr Gail then selected some of the verses, and 
called upon them to separate the circumstances, or 
parts of each verse, and to state each as a separate 
proposition. ' This also they did with the greatest 
ease ; and in some cases a variety of divisions were 
brought forward, thus proving the high intellectual 
powers which they had acquired, and the ease with 
which they could analyse any passage, however 
difficult. 

** It was next to be ascertained what power the 
children had acquired of drawing lessons from Scrip- 
ture ; and for this purpose, Mr Gall, in order to 
husband the time of the meeting, coniined the chil- 
dren's attention to one verse only, and proposed to 
submit each of the moral circumstances contained in 
that verse, one by one, as they themselves had di- 
vided it. The following are the lessons drawn by the 
children, as taken down in short-hand by the Re- 
porter. 

" Mr G. — The householder invited labourers at 
the eleventh hour; — what does that teach you.? — 
It teaches us, that God at various seasons calls peo- 
ple to his church. — It teaches us, that we ought 
never to despair, but bear in mind the language of 
Jesus to the repentant thief on the cross, — ' To-day 
shalt thou be with me in paradise.' — It teaches us, 
that we ought not to boast of to-morrow, since we 
know not what a day or an hour may bring forth. — 
It teaches us, that time is short, and that life is the 
only period for preparation and hope. — It teaches us, 
that we ought to be prepared, — have our loins girt, 
and our lamps burning ; for we know neither the 
day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. — 
It teaches us, that we ought to number our days, and 
apply our hearts to heavenly wisdom.— It teaches us, 
that we ought not to put off the day of repentance ; 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 253 

because for every day we put it off, we shall have 
one more to repent oj\ and one less to repent in. — It 
teaches us, 

' That life is the season God hath given 
To fly from hell, and rise to heaven ; 
That day of grace fleets fast away, 
And none its rapid course can stay.' 

^' Mr Gall here requested the children to pause for a 
moment,, that he might express the high gratification 
he felt at the fluency? the readiness, and the appro- 
priateness of the lessons which they had drawn. He 
was only afraid that they had inadvertently fallen up- 
on a passage with which the children were familiar, 
by having had it recently under their notice; and he 
therefore requested Mr Cameron to state to the meet- 
ing whether this was really the case or not. Mr Ca- 
meron rose and said, that what the meeting now saw 
was no more than could be seen any Sunday in the 
Charlotte Street School. They had not had any 
preparation for this meeting ; and he did not remem- 
ber of ever having had this passage taught in the 
school. He would recommend that the children be 
allowed a little freedom ; and when they were done 
with that announcement, let any other be taken, for 
it was the same to them whatever subject might be 
chosen. 

" Mr Gall accordingly repeated the announcement 
again, and called on them to proceed with any other 
lessons from it which occurred to them. They ac- 
cordingly commenced again, and answered as follows : 
It teaches us, that we ought to remember our Creator 
in the days of our youth, while the evil days come 
not, nor the years draw nigh in which we shall say 
we have no pleasure in them. — It teaches us, that we 
ought to prepare for death ; to gird up our loins, and 
trim our lamps, lest it be said unto us in the great 
day of the Lord, when he maketh up his jewels, ' De- 
part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared 
for the devil and his angels.^ — It teaches us so to cen- 

Y 



254 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

duct ourselves, that whether v/e hve we live unto the 
Lord, and whether we die we die unto the Lord ; and 
that whether we live therefore or die, we may be the 
Lord''s ; for to that end Christ both died, and rose, 
and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead 
and the living.* — It teaches us to improve our time 
lest we find that the harvest is past, and the summer 
ended, and us not saved. — It teaches us, that we 
ought to study, in that whether we eat or drink, or 
whatsoever we do, we do all to the glory of God. — 
It teaches us, that we ought to endeavour to secure 
an interest in Christ in time. — It teaches us, that de- 
lays are dangerous. — It teaches us, that the day of 
the Lord cometh like a thief in the night, and that 
when sinners shall say, ' Peace and safety,' sudden 
destruction cometh upon them. — It teaches us, thai 
we ought to acquaint ourselves early with God ; and 
that we ought to walk circumspectly, not as fools, 
but as wise? redeeming the time, because the days 
are evil. — ^It teaches us, that we ought to seek the 
Lord while he may be found, and call upon him 
while he is near ; that the wicked ought to forsake 
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and 
let him return unto the Lord, who will have mercy 
upon him, and to our God, who will abundantly 
pardon. — It teaches us to improve our time ; and to 
bear in mind, that though patriarchs lived long, the 
burden of the historian's tale is always, ' and they 
died.' — It teaches us, that we ought not to allow 



* At this part, the Report of the Experiment contains the follow- 
ing Note : — " The i-eader will perceive that some of the lessons 
diverge at times from the announcement ; but it is of great import- 
ance, in an experiment of this kind, neither to omit nor amend 
what is wrong, but to give exactly the words that were spoken. 
Not the least remarkable circumstance elicited by this experiment 
is the fact, that these children, who know nothing of the rules of 
grammar, have obviously, by the mental exercise induced by the 
system, become pretty correct practical grammarians. The varia- 
tions made in many of the passages of Scripture quoted by them 
show this." 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 255 

pleasures and enjoyments to interfere with, or over- 
come, our more important duty of seeking God. — 
It teaches us, that we are never too young to pray, 
and to remember that God says, ' Now ;' — the devil, 
' To-morrow."' 

" Mr Gall here took advantage of a short pause, 
and said, ' We shall now change the announce- 
ment. Give me a few lessons from the fact stated 
in this parable, that when the husbandman invited 
the labourers into the vineyard at the eleventh hour, 
they accepted the invitation. — What does that teach 
you ?'' — It teaches us, that we ought to accept 
the invitation of Jesus to come with him, * Ho i 
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and 
he that hath no money ; come ye buy and eat ; yea, 
come, buy wine and milk without money, and without 
price. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found ; 
call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked for- 
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 
and let him return unto the Lord, who will have 
mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abun- 
dantly pardon."* — It teaches us, that we ought to 
show a wilHngness to accept the invitation of Christ, 
since ' he is not willing that any should perish, but 
that all should come unto him and live.' — It teaches 
us, that we ought to accept the invitation of Christ, 
since we are informed in the Scriptures, ' that who- 
soever Cometh unto him he will in no ways cast out."" 
It teaches us, that we ought to accept of the invita- 
tion of Christ ; for the Bible informs us, that the 
invitation is held forth to all ; * for whosoever will, let 
him take of the waters of life freely ."* — ' Come unto 
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I 
will give you rest."* — It teaches us, that we ought not 
to hesitate in accepting the invitation of Christ ; for 
God says he will not always strive with man. 

" Mr Gall here again expressed not only his satis- 
faction, but his astonishment, at the success with 
which Mr Cameron had taught the Scriptures to 



256 PEACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

these children. This exhibited itself in two ways ; 
Ji7\st, in enabling them to draw lessons from any pas- 
sage of Scripture ; and second, in having so disposed 
of what Scripture they had already been taught^that 
whenever a doctrine or duty was to be brought before 
them, scriptural declarations crowded around therrl 
' as a light to their feet, and a lamp to their path.' 
He himself had no doubt that the children were nO' 
more prepared upon this passage than upon any other ;. 
but it would exhibit this fact more satisfactorily, if 
another passage were selected, which he requested 
some of the gentlemen present to do. 

'* The clergymen present accordingly requested 
Mr Gall to try the concluding portion of the second 
chapter of Luke, which details Christ's visit to Jeru- 
salem at twelve years of age. After having read and 
catechised the children on this passage, as he had 
done on the former, he proceeded at once to call for 
lessons. Mr Gall gave us the announcement that 
' Joseph and Mai'y worshipped God in public,'' and 
asked for one or tw^o lessons from this ? It teaches 
us, that we ought to worship God both in public 
and in private. — It teaches us, that no trifles ought to 
hinder us from worshipping God. — -One child quoted 
the following verse : — 

*■ Come then, O house of Jacxib, come, 
And worship at his shrine L 
And walking in the light of God, 
With holy beauties shine.' 

" Mr Gall then said, Let us change the announce- 
ment : ' Joseph and Mary went regularly every 
year to the feast of the passover .^' — What does that 
teach you ? — That teaches us, that we ought to at- 
tend the house of God regularly. — It teaches that we 
ought to attend church both times of the day. — It 
teaches us that we ought to worship God regularly ; 
for God loveth order, and not confusion. 

" Let us change the announcement again. ' Je- 
sus attended the passover when he was twelve years 
of age,' What does this teach vou ? — It teaches us,. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 257 

that parents should train up their children in the way 
they should go. — It teaches us, that learning young 
is learning fair. — It teaches us, that children should 
never be thought too young to be brought up in the 
fear of the Lord. — It teaches us, that children should 
obey their parents. — What are we to learn from their 
' fulfilling the days ?"* — It teaches us, that we should 
not leave the church until the sermon is over. — It 
teaches us, that we ought not to disturb others by 
leaving; the church.*" 

Remarkable as this exhibition was of the attain- 
ment of extraordinary mental power by mere chil- 
dren, yet it is but justice to say, that the above is 
merely a specimen of the elasticity and grasp of mind 
which these children had acquired. Some idea of the 
extent of this may be formed when it is considered, 
that all these passages and^ subjects were chosen for 
them at the moment, and by strangers. And it is 
worthy of remark, that if such an amount of men- 
tal power, and such an accumulation of knowledge, 
of the best and most practical kind, were easily and 
pleasantly acquired by children in the lowest ranks 
of life, of their own voluntary choice, under every 
disadvantage, and with no more than two hours teach- 
ing in the week ; what may we not expect, when the 
principles here developed, are wielded and applied 
by those who thoroughly understand them, not for 
two hours, with an interval of six busy days, but 
every day of the week ? — The prospect is cheering. 



CHAP. IX. 

On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Prac- 
tical Use of Knowledge by means of the Moral 
Sense, or Conscience. 

In a former chapter we endeavoured to collect a 
few facts specially connected with the moral sense, as 
exhibited in the young, and the methods which Nature 

Y 6 



258 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

employs, when conscience is made use of for the ap- 
plication of their knowledge.* We shall in this chap- 
ter ofifbr a few additional remarks on the imitation of 
Nature in this important department ; but before 
doing soj it will be proper to clear our way by mak- 
ing a few preliminary observations. 

No one disputes the general principle, that educa- 
tion is proper for man ; — and if so, then education 
must be beneficial in all circumstances, and at every 
period of his life. In particular, were we to ask 
whether education were necessary in early childhood? 
and infancy, universal experience would at once 
answer the question, and would demonstrate;) that it 
is much more necessary and more valuable at that 
season, than at any future period of the individuaPs 
life. In proof of this, we find, that enlightened re= 
straint upon the temper, and a regulating care with re- 
gard to the conduct, are productive of the most 
beneficial results ; while, on the contrary, when this 
discipline is neglected, the violence of self-will ge- 
' nerally becomes so strong, and the checks upon the 
temper so weak, that the character of the child formed 
at this period may be such as to make him for life his 
own tormentor, and the pest of all with whom he is to 
be associated. — No one can reasonably deny this ; and 
the conclusion is plain, that education of some kind 
or other is really more necessary for the infant and 
the child, than it is either for the youth or the 
man. 

If this general principle be once admitted, and we 
set it down as an axiom that the infant and the child 
are to learn somethings — it naturally follows, that we 
arerequired to teach them those useful things for which 
Nature has more especially fitted them ; while we 
are forbidden to force branches of knowledge upon 
them of which they are incapable. Our object then, 
ought to be to ascertain both the positive and the 

* See pages 111 to 129. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 259 

negative of this proposition ; endeavouring to find 
out what the infant and child are capable of learning,^ 
and what they are not. Now it is an important fact, 
not only that infants and young children are peculiarly 
fitted, by the constitution of their minds and affections, 
for learning and practisingthe principles of religion and 
morals ; but it is still more remarkable, that they are, 
for a long period, incapable of learning or practising 
any thing else. If this can be established, then no- 
thing can be more decisive as to the intention of 
Nature, that moral and religious training, is not 
only the great end in view by a course of education 
generally, but that it is, and ought always to be, the 
first object of the parent and teacher, and the only 
true and solid basis upon which they are to build all 
that is to follow. Let us therefore for a moment 
enquire a little more particularly into this important 
subject. 

When we carefully examine the conduct of an en- 
lightened and affectionate mother or nurse with the 
infant, as soon as it can distinguish right from wTong 
and good from evil, we find it to consist of two kinds, 
which are perfectly distinct from each other. The one 
regards the comfort and physical welfare of the child ; 
— the other regards the regulation of its temper, its 
passions, and its conduct. It is of the latter only 
that we are here to speak. 

When this moral training of the judicious mother 
is examined, we find it uniformly and entirely to 
consist in an indefatigable watchfulness in preventing 
or checking whatever is evil in the child, and in en- 
couraging, and teaching, and training to the practice 
of wdiatever is good. She is careful to enforce obe- 
dience and submission in every case ; — to win and 
encourage the indications of affection ; to check re- 
taliation or revenge ; to subdue the violence of pas- 
sion or inordinate desire ; — to keep under every 
manifestation of self-will ; — and to soothe down and 
banish every appearance of fretfulness and bad tern- 



260 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

per. In short, she trains her yonng charge to feel 
and to practise all tlie amiable and kindly affections 
of our nature, encouraging and commending him in 
their exercise ; — while, on the contrary, she prevents, 
discourages, reproves, and if necessary punishes, the 
exhibition of dispositions and conduct of an opposite 
kind. This, as every one Avho has examined the 
subject kno^\s» is the sum and substance of the 
mother's educational efforts during this early period 
of her child's progress ; — and what we wish to press 
upon the observation of the reader is, that the child 
at this period is literally incapable of learning any 
thing else which at all deserves the name of education. 
He may be taught to be obedient ; to be submissive; 
to be kind and obliging ; to moderate, and even to sup- 
press his passions ; to controul his wishes and his will ; 
— to be forbearing and forgiving ; — and to be gentle, 
peaceable, orderly, cleanly, and perhaps mannerly. 
Is there any thing else ? — Is there any one element 
of a different kind, that ever does, or ever can enter 
into the course of an infant or young child's edu- 
cation ? If there be, what is it ? — Let it be exa- 
mined ; — and we have no hesitation in saying, that if it 
be *' education/' or any thing that deserves the name, 
it will be found to resolve itself into some one or 
other of the moral qualities which we have above 
enumerated. If therefore children, during the earlier 
stages of their educational progress are to be taught 
at all, religion and morals must be the subjects, seeing 
that they are for a long period capable of learning no- 
thing else. And it is here worthy of especial notice, 
that in teaching religion and morals, there is a ne- 
gative as well as a positive scale; — and experience 
has uniformly demonstrated, that if the pai'ent or 
teacher neglect to improve the child by raising him 
in the positive side, he will, by his own efforts, sink 
deeper in the negative. Seliishness, as exhibited in 
the natural depravity of human nature, will in all 
such cases strengthen daily ; and all the evil passions 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 261 

which selfishness and self-will call into exercise, will 
then be strengthened and confirmed perhaps for life. 
But while we perceive that the young are incapable 
of learning any thing else than what is properly termed 
religion and morals, we find ic to be equally true, 
that they are peculiarly fitted and furnished by Na- 
ture for making rapid and permanent progress when- 
ever religion and morals are made the subjects of 
regular instruction and training. Few who have 
considered carefully the facts stated above, will 
question the accuracy of this assertion in so far 
as morals are concerned ; but there are some who 
will doubt the capacity of infants and children to 
be influenced by religioii. Now this doubt arises 
from not observing the difference, — and the only dif- 
ference, — that exists between morality and religion. 
A man or a child is moral when he is kind and for- 
giving for his own sake, and to please himself or his 
parents ; — but he is religious when he does the same 
thing for conscience sake, and to please God. Now 
children, by the very constitution of their minds, are 
well fitted for receivino^ all that kind of relimous 
knowledge which acts upon the feelings, and in- 
fluences the conduct ; while the heart is peculiarly 
sensitive, and is disposed to bend under the influence 
of every expression of affection and tenderness exhi- 
bited by others towards them. Their faith in all 
that they are told, as we have seen, is unhesitating 
and entire ; and the capacity of their lively imagina- 
tions, for comprehending things mighty and sublime, 
which is too often abused by the ideas of giants, and 
ogres, and ghosts, is sanctified and refined by hearing 
of the greatness, and goodness, and love of the great 
Creator of heaven and of earth. When they are in- 
formed of his affection and tenderness to them indi- 
vidually ; — of his mercy and grace in saving them 
from the awful consequences of sin by the substitu- 
tion of his own Son for their sakes ; — of his nu- 
merous benefits, and his unceasing care ; — of his con- 



262 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

stant presence with them though unseen ; and of his 
hatred of sin, and his love of hohness ; — there is no 
mixture of doubt to neutralize the effects of these 
truths ; and they much more willingly and unreserv- 
edly give themselves up to their influence, than those 
who are older. Hence? the repeated declarations of 
our Lord, that *' unless we become as little children, 
we shall in no case enter into the kingdom of God." 
A simple enumeration therefore of the benefits they 
have received from this kind and condescending hea- 
venly Father, is well fitted to fill the heart of an un- 
sophisticated child with affection and zeal, — and most 
powerfully to constrain him to avoid every thing that 
he is told will grieve and offend him, and to watch for 
opportunities to do what he now knows will honour 
and please him. This is religion ; and it is pecu- 
liarly the rehgion of the young ;— and that man or 
woman will be found most rehgious, who, both in 
spirit and in action, shall approach nearest to it in its 
purity and simplicity. 

From all these considerations we see, that Nature 
has intended that the first part of the child's education 
shall consist almost exclusively of moral and religious 
training ; — and this we think cannot be disputed by 
any one who considers the above facts dispassionately, 
or who will allow his mind to act as it ought to do 
under the influence of ascertained truth. We shall 
now therefore offer a few remarks on the manner in 
which this may most effectually be carried into effect ; 
or, in other words, how Nature may most successful- 
ly be imitated in the application of knowledge by 
means of the moral sense. 

1. The first thing to be observed here then is, 
that the early efforts of the parent or teacher are to 
be employed for disciplining the child under the in- 
fluence of the executive powers of conscience. — The 
child is to be trained to the perfect government of his 
inclinations and temper, by a watchful attention on 
the part of the parent to every instance of their ex- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 263 

hibition in his daily conduct, the regulation of the 
desires, the softening down of the passions, the era- 
dicating of evil propensities, the restraining and over- 
coming the exercise of self-will, the converting of 
selfishness into benevolence, and the cultivating and 
strengthening of self-controul v\^ithin, and of sym- 
pathy, and forbearance, and kindness to all without. 
These are the great ends which the parent and teacher 
are to have in view in ail their dealings with the 
child. They are, in short, to take care that their 
pupil be reduced to a state of enlightened submission, 
and uniform obedience ; and for that purpose, they 
are to employ all the means and the machinery pro- 
vided by Nature, in the use of which she has afford- 
ed them abundant examples. 

In the accomplishment of these ends, the agent 
employed has much in her power. It is a delicate, 
as well as an important work ; and here, more than 
perhaps in any after period of the child's educational 
progress, an affectionate and enlightened agency is of 
the greatest importance. In that constant watchful- 
ness and exertion, necessary to check or to controul 
the unceasing and often unreasonable desires of a 
froward child, there is naturally created in the mind 
of a hireling or a stranger, a feeling of irritation and 
dislike, which nothing but enlightened philanthropy, 
or high moral principle, will ever be able thoroughly 
to overcome ; — and these qualifications are scarcely to 
be expected in those who are usually picked up to 
assist the mother during this important season. In 
families. Nature has graciously balanced this effect, 
and amply provided for it, in the deep-seated and 
unalterable affection of the parent. The mother 
then is the proper agent, selected and duly qualified 
by Nature for superintending this important w^ork 
during this early period. The out-bursts and irregu- 
larities of natural depravity in the young, must be met 
by an unconquerable affection, exhibited in the exer- 
cise of gentleness, guided by firmness ; — of kindness 



264 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY IJ^TO 

and forbearance, combined with a steady and an un- 
tiring perseverance. Irregularity or caprice in the 
nurse, may be the ruin of the morals of the child. The 
selection of assistance here is often requisite, and yet 
how few comparatively of those into whose hands chil- 
dren and infants are placed, possess the high qualifica- 
tions necessary for this important occupation ?* The 
parent who from any cause is prevented from taking 
charge of the superintendence of her offspring at this 
period, incurs a serious responsibility in the choice of 
her assistant ; for if these qualifications be awanting, 
or, if they be not exercised by the nurse or the keep- 
er, the happiness and moral welfare of the child dur- 
ing life are in imminent danger. 

2. The child is not only to be trained to think and 
to act properly, but he must be trained to do so 
under the influence of motives. If this be neglected, 
we are not imitating Nature in her mode of apply- 
ing knowledge by means of the moral sense. We 
have seen, as formerly noticed, that a child under the 
influence of conscience, has always a painful feeling 
of self-reproach, or remorse, after it has done wrong ; 
and a delightful feeling of self-approval and joy? 
when it has done something that is praise- worthy. 
These are employed by Nature as powerful motives 
to prevent the repetition of the one, and to win the 
child to the frequent or regular performance of the 
other ; — and this is their effect. In imitating her in 
this part of her educational process, we must in like 
manner follow in the spirit of this principle. There 
must be motives of action held out to the child ; 
something that will tend to keep him from the com- 
mission of evil, and something that will stimulate and 
encourage him in doing good. Both are necessary, 
and therefore, neither of them should be neglected. 
What these motives ought to be, we shall immediately 
shew ; but at present, we are anxious to establish the 

* NoteX. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 265 

fact, that motives to do good, should be invariably 
employed with our pupils, as well as motives to avoid 
evil. In ordinary life, we generally find too much 
of the one, and too little of the other. The fear of 
punishment held out to prevent mischief or evil, is 
common enough ; but there is seldom sufficient at- 
tention paid to the providing of proper incitements 
to the practice of virtue. Some, indeed, have gone 
the length of affirming that there ought to be no 
such incitement held out to the young; under the 
erroneous idea, that actions performed for an equiva- 
lent, or in the hope of a reward, cease to be virtuous. 
But the same reasoning would apply with almost 
equal force to the fear of punishment in stimulating 
to duty, or in deterring from wickedness ; and yet thev 
would scarcely affirm, that the child who, for fear of 
the consequences, refused to break the Sabbath or to 
tell a lie, was equally guilty with the boy who did both. 
There are, no doubt, some motives to virtue that are 
higher and more noble than others, as there are dif- 
ferences in the degrading nature of punishment em- 
ployed to deter men from vice. But both kinds 
may be necessary for different persons. The man 
who forgives his enemy because he seeks the appro- 
bation of his Maker and the reward promised by 
him, and the man who does so? because he wishes 
to live in quiet, and to consult his own ease ; — the 
boy who refrains from sin lest he should offend God, 
and another who does the same from the fear of the 
rod, — are each influenced by motives, although they 
are of a very different kind. But it is plain, that 
the motives employed may be equally efficient, and 
that they ought to be used according to their influ- 
ence upon the individual, and his advancement in the 
paths of morality and religion. Where the higher 
motive has not as yet acquired influence, the lower 
motive must be employed ; but to refuse the employ- 
ment of either would be wrong, and the sentiment 
which would totally exclude them, has no countenance 



266 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

in Nature, in experience, nor in Scripture. In Na- 
ture, we see the directly opposite principle exhibited ; 
and find that the remorse of conscience consequent 
upon crime, in preventing future transgressions, is 
not more powerful in those whose moral status is 
low, than is the feeling of delight and joy after an 
act of benevolence, which excites to new deeds of 
charity, in those whose religious attainments are 
greater. Scripture, and the history of all those 
whom Scripture holds out for imitation, unite in 
teaching the same sentiment. There are many more 
promises in the sacred record given to virtue, than 
there are threat enings against vice ; and the highest 
altitudes of holiness are not only represented as having 
been attained by the influence of these promises ; but 
the persons who have already reached them, are still 
urged to greater exertions, and a farther advance, by 
the reiteration of their number and their value. Mo- 
ses, we are told, " had an eye to the recompense of 
reward ;" and our Lord himself, " for the joy that 
was set before him," endured the cross. Let us not 
then attempt a better method than God has sanction- 
ed; and in our intercourse with the young, let us 
not only deter them from the commission of evil by 
the fear of disfavour or the rod, but let us also in- 
cite them to virtue, by the hope of approbation and 
of a future reward. 

3. In our enquiry into the practical working of 
the moral sense, we found, not only that there were 
motives of action employed for encouraging the pu- 
pil to virtue, and for deterring him from vice ; but 
we found also, that these motives referred chiefly 
to God, to a future judgment, and to eternity. In 
our attempts to imitate Nature in this particular fea- 
ture of her deaHng with the moral sense, we begin 
more distinctly to perceive the high value of Reli- 
gious Instruction to the young, and are led directly 
to the conclusion, that the motives to be employed 
with children for encouraging and rewarding good 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 267 

conduct, must be those chiefly of a spiritual kind, 
referring to God, and to his favour or disapprobation, 
rather than to the rod, or to any secular reward. 
The importance of imitating Nature in this matter, 
for giving a high tone both to the sentiments and 
to the morals of the young, is very great. It is now 
generally admitted, that secular, and especially cor- 
poral punishments, are never required, except in con- 
nection with a very low and degraded state of the 
moral sentiments; but it is equally correct with re- 
spect to secular rewards for moral actions. They 
may both of them at times be necessary, but in that 
case they are necessary evils ; and, as a class of mo- 
tives, they should never be the rule, but invariably 
the exception. — We must not, however, be misun- 
derstood. We are no more for abandoning secular 
rewards, than we are for giving up corporal punish- 
ments. We speak not here of their abandonment^ 
but of their enlightened regulation ; — both of them 
may be of service. But what we wish to point out 
as an important feature in moral training is, that 
they are, or should be, but seldom necessary ; and 
that they ought never to be resorted to except when 
they really are so. The differences observable in the 
results arising from secular, and those from moral 
motives, are very different, both as regards their 
power in restraining from vice, and their influence 
in stimulating to virtue. What, for example, would 
we think of the moral condition of a child, or of the 
virtue of his actions, if he had to be hired by a com- 
fit, or a piece of money, to do every act of kindness 
which he performed ; or if he refused to relieve a 
sister, or prevent an injury to his companion, unless 
similarly rewarded 't This secular spirit in morals, 
when thus exposed in its deformity, is obnoxious to 
every sentiment of virtue, and shews itself to be a 
mere system of buying and selling. But how very 
different does the reward appear, and the feehng 
which it excites, when that reward assumes the mo- 



268 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

ral character, and is found to be the desire of pleasing 
the parent, and much more when it seeks the appro- 
bation of the Almighty ? Every one will see how be- 
neficial and elevating the effects of cherishing the one 
must be, and how debasing comparatively is the 
influence of the other. That children are capable of 
being acted upon by these higher motives, we have 
already seen ; and, when we aim at securing the ef- 
fects which they are calculated to produce, we are 
closely imitating Nature in one of her most impor- 
tant operations, and may therefore calculate upon a 
corresponding degree of success.* 

4. In the operations of Nature by means of the 
moral sense, we found, that the impressions made 
upon the mind in reference to sin or duty, were al- 
ways most efficient, and most permanent, when the 
sin or duty was presented to them in the form of 
example ; — that the example increased in efficiency 
and interest as it was familiar or near ; — and that it be- 
came still more powerful when it was actually seen or 
experienced. — From these circumstances we are led to 
conclude, that the lives and conduct of men, and 
especially the narrative parts of Scripture, are the 
proper materials to be employed in the moral train- 
ing of the young ; and the mode of making use of 
them is also very plainly indicated. The closer we 
can bring the lesson taught to the child's own expe- 
rience, or to his own circumstances, the more familiar 
will it become, and the deeper will be the impression 
it will make. An instance of infant disinterested- 
ness or heroism, in the parlour or the play-ground, 
pointed out, and placed in connection with corres- 
ponding circumstances in the lives or conduct of those 
from whom they have previously drawn moral les- 
sons, will render the latter much more familiar and 
practical, and will create more energetic desires, and 
stronger feelings of emulation with respect to the 

* Note Y. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 269 

former. Or if the conduct of the person of whom 
the child hears or reads, can be brought home and 
applied to his own case and circumstances ; or if he 
can be made to perceive the very same dispositions 
or conduct exhibited in his companions ; or if he 
can be made to see how he himself can embody in 
his own conduct those principles and actions which 
God has approved, and requires to be imitated, — the 
end of the teacher will be much more certainly gain- 
ed, than it can be in any other way. This is mo- 
ral training, conducted by the proper moral means ; 
and to attempt to gain the same end by means which 
do not either more or less embody these principles, 
will be found to be much more difficult, and much less 
efficient. Whoever will consider what is implied by 
our Lord's address to the Pharisees who erroneously 
blamed his disciples for unlawfully, as they thought, 
plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath, will see 
this method of reading and applying Scripture dis- 
tinctly pointed out. " Have ye never read," said 
our Lord, " what David did, and those who were 
with him .?"' This they might have done frequently ; 
but the mere reading could never answer the purpose 
for which it was recorded. The moral lesson must 
be drawn, and it must also be applied to similar cases 
of mere ceremonial observance. 

To apply this principle, then, to the moral training 
of the young by means of Scripture History, the method 
is obvious. — The events of the narrative are to be 
used as examples or warnings to the child in corres- 
ponding circumstances. If, for example, the teacher 
wishes to enforce the duty and the benefits of pa- 
tience, the history of Job has been provided for the 
purpose. When that story is taught, and the les- 
sons drawn and applied to the ordinary contingencies 
of life, such as accident, disease, or distress in a com- 
panion ; or to circumstances in which the child him- 
self may hereafter be placed ; he will be better pre- 
pared for his duty in such events, or, in the words of 
z3 



270 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

Scripture, he will be " thoroughly furnished" to this 
good work. If they are to be taught meekness, the 
history of Moses, or of other pious men who have 
been tried and disciplined as he was, will be found 
best adapted for the purpose. And more especially, 
the life of our Lord, in which all the virtues concen- 
trate, has been given " as our example, that we may 
follow his steps," and which ought especially to be 
employed in training the young " to love and to good 
works." The reason why example is preferable to 
precept in teaching children, will be obvious, when 
we consider the nature of the principle of grouping, 
as exercised by the young, and the difficulty they 
experience in remembering abstract or didactic sub- 
jects. When a child receives instruction by a story, 
the imagination is enlisted in the exercise, the group- 
ing of the persons and circumstances assists the me- 
mory, and the moral and practical lessons which 
they have drawn from the narrative, are associated 
with it, and remain ready at the command of the 
will whenever they are required.— It was for this 
reason among others, that our Lord taught so fre- 
quently by parables; and, in doing so, has not only 
set the parent and teacher an important example, but 
has, in his teaching, illustrated a principle in our 
nature which he himself had long before implanted 
for this very purpose. 

5. In our investigations into the working of the 
moral sense, we found, that there was a marked dif- 
ference between the decisions of conscience when 
judging of actions done by ourselves^ and those which 
were performed by others. As long as the child is 
innocent of any particular vice, he can judge impar- 
tially of its nature and demerit; but when the temp- 
tation to commit it has really begun to darken his 
mind, and more particularly when he has at last 
fallen before it, all the selfish principles of his nature 
are employed to deceive his better judgment, and to 
drown or overbear the voice of conscience within 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 271 

him. From this we learn the importance of prepar- 
ing the mind beforehand^ for encountering those 
temptations to which the pupil will most likely be 
exposed ; not only by teaching him to draw the pro- 
per lessons from corresponding subjects, but by 
making him apply these lessons to his own case 
and affairs. The teacher is to suppose circumstances, 
in which he, his parents, and companions, are most 
likely to be placed, and in which the lessons drawn 
from the narrative will be required to weaken or 
to prevent the influences of temptation. As, for 
example, it might be asked, " If you had accidentally 
broken a pane of glass, and your parents asked you 
who did it, what should you do ?" There would in 
this case, while it was only supposed, be no tempta- 
tion to stifle conscience, or to bend to the influences 
of selfishness or fear, and the child would accordingly 
answer readily, that he ought to confess his fault, 
and tell that he himself had done it. When again 
asked, " From what do you get that lesson?" he 
will most probably reply, " From Jacob telling a lie 
to his parent ; — from Ananias and Sapphira telling a 
lie ; — from the command, ' Lie not one to another,"* 
and ' Confess your faults one to another/ " &c. 
By this means the child is forewarned ; — he is pre- 
pared and fortified against the sin, if the temptation 
should occur ; but which would not have been the 
case without this or some similar exercise. 

6. We have also seen, in our investigations into 
the working of the moral sense, the deplorable effects 
of stifling conscience, and of the child's being per- 
mitted to repeat his transgressions; while, upon the 
same principle, the most beneficial consequences 
result from the chiWs frequently practising self- 
denial, self-controul, and acts of benevolence. In 
the one case, sin and vice lose much of their de- 
formity, and gain greatly in strength ; while, in the 
other, every act of virtue makes vice appear more 
hideous, and excites to a more decided advance in 



272 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

the paths of rectitude. From these circumstances we 
are Jed to conclude, that every act of sin in the pupil 
ought to be carefully guarded against by the parent 
or teacher, and, if possible, prevented ; while every 
exertion ought to be made to induce to the perform- 
ance of good and kind actions, however humble or 
unimportant these actions in themselves may be. If 
God does " not despise the day of small things,'' 
neither should we ; and one act of kindness by a 
child, however trifling, will most assuredly prepare 
the way for another. This circumstance also shews 
the impropriety of attempting to magnify faults, 
when perhaps no fault was designed ; and the evil 
consequences, as well as the injustice, of refraining to 
commend a child? when commendation is due. The 
timorous fear, in many conscientious parents, of mak- 
ing children vairi', is the common excuse for this 
unnatural conduct. Such persons seem to confound 
things vain with things valuable, though they are 
perfectly opposed to each other. Approbation for 
any definite quality, excites the individual to excel 
in that quality, whether it be worthless or otherwise. 
But virtuous deeds are not worthless ; and by com- 
mending, as our Lord repeatedly did, those who have 
done well, they, by that principle of our nature of 
which we are here speaking, are strongly excited to 
do better. To feed vanity, is to commend vanities ; 
and they who prize and commend beauty, or fashion, 
or dress, or frivolous accomplishments, may be guilty 
of this folly ; but not the parent or the person who 
commends in a child those things which are really 
commendable, and after which it is his greatest glory 
to aspire. 

7. We have already taken notice of Nature's mode 
of employing motives for the prevention of evil, and 
for the encouragement of the child in virtue, and 
how this is to be imitated in the education of the 
young ; but we have left for this last section, and 
for separate consideration, the greatest and most 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 273 

powerful motive of all. This is a view of the inherent 
sinfulness and danger of sin, and the means appointed 
by God for man's redemption from it. All other mo- 
tives to restrain men from sin, and to induce them to 
followholiness, when compared with an enlightened view 
of this one, sink into insignificance. God^s hatred of 
sin, and his holy abhorrence of it in every form, when 
contemplated in the abstract, may have a response from 
the head of him who compares it with his own detes- 
tation of meanness, and fraud, and profligacy ; but 
when this hatred of vice in the Almighty is viewed 
in connection with gospel truth, and is contemplated 
in its effects upon One to whom it was only imputed, 
it begins to wear a very different complexion ; and, 
as a motive to beware of that which God is deter- 
mined to punish, and which he would not pass over 
even in his own Son, it leaves all other motives at an 
immeasurable distance. The same thing may be said 
of God's goodness and mercy in the gospel, as a 
motive for us to love him, and to glory in denying 
ourselves to serve him. The extent of the danger 
from which he has saved us, the amount and the 
permanence of the glory which he has procured for 
us, and the price that was paid for both, will power- 
fully " constrain"" spiritual minds, to '* live no longer 
to themselves, but to him who hath died for them." 

But the question which will be asked here is, " Are 
children capable of all this?" — We unhesitatingly 
answer, from long experience, that they are. Who- 
ever doubts the fact has only to try. Can a child 
not understand that a distinction ought to be made be- 
tween the person in a family who endeavours to make 
all happy, and another whose constant aim is to make 
them all miserable ? — Can he not understand, that 
the parent who refuses to punish a wicked child, is in 
effect bribing others to join him in his wickedness ? — 
Can he not understand that a debt due by one, may be 
paid by another? — and that a simple reliance on the 
word of his benefactor, followed by submission to 



274 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

his will, may be all that is required to secure his dis- 
charge ? — No one will say that a child is incapable 
of understanding these simple truths ; and if he can 
comprehend t?iem^ he can be made to understand 
and appreciate the leading truths of the gospel. 
The teacher has only himself clearly to perceive 
them ; and then, divesting the truths of those unne- 
cessary technicalities which are sometimes, it is feared, 
used very improperly and unnecessarily, he ought to 
convey them to the child, either orally, or by some 
simple catechism suited for the purpose. Wherever 
this is done in effect? there education will prosper ; 
and when it shall become general among the young, 
it will be found to be " as life from the dead.'' 



CHAP. X. 

On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common 
Affairs of Life, 

There is another point connected with the prac- 
tical use of our knowledge, which deserves a separate 
and careful consideration. It is the method of ap- 
plying our knowledge, or rather the lessons derived 
from our knowledge, to the common and daily'afFairs 
of life. In this exercise both old and young are 
equally concerned ; — but it is evident that youth is the 
proper time for training to its practice. 

To acquire this valuable art, the pupils in every 
seminary ought to be regularly and frequently exer- 
cised in the application of their lessons ; — first, when 
they have been drawn from a particular subject, 
which has occupied their attention for the day ; and 
afterwards generally, from any part of their previous 
knowledge. To illustrate what we mean by this ap- 
phcation of our knowledge, let us suppose a person 
placed in difficult circumstances, and that he is de- 
sirous of knowing the path of duty, and the parti- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 275 

cular line of conduct which he should pursue! If he 
is to trust to himself for the information required, it 
h evident that he must either fall back upon his pre- 
vious knowledge, and the instructions he has already 
received ; or he must go forward upon a mere conjec- 
ture, or on chance, which is always dangerous. AH 
knowledge is given expressly for such cases, and 
especially Scripture knowledge ; the great design of 
which is, " that the man of God may be thoroughly 
furnished to good works." But if the person has 
not been trained to make use of his knowledge in 
this way a,nd for this purpose, he will be nearly as 
much at a loss as if his knowledge had never been 
received. Hence the great importance of training 
the young early and constantly to draw upon their 
knowledge for direction and guidance in every 
variety of situation in which the parent or teacher can 
suppose them to be placed in future life. By this 
means they will be prepared for encountering temp- 
tation, which is often more than the half of the battle ; 
■^they will form the habit of acting by rule, instead of 
being carried forward by fashion, by prejudice, or 
by chance ; — and they will soon acquire a manly con- 
fidence, in deciding and acting, both as to the matter 
and the manner, of performing all that they are called 
upon to do, in every juncture, and whether the duty 
be important in the ordinary sense of that term or 
otherwise. 

For this special mode of applying knowledge, we 
have not only the indications plainly given in Na- 
ture, which we have endeavoured to illustrate, but 
we have also Scripture precept, and Scripture ex- 
ample. Leaving the numerous instances in the Old 
Testament, we shall confine ourselves to a few given 
by our Lord himself, and his apostles. For ex- 
ample, he prepared his disciples for the temptations 
which the love of worldly goods would throw in the 
way of their escape from the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem, by enjoining them to " Remember Lot's wife."" 



^^6 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

Now let us observe how a teacher, in communicating 
the history of Lot's wife for the first time, would 
have prepared these disciples for such a difficulty iit 
the same way. When they had read, that while 
fleeing for her life, the love of her worldly goods 
made her sinfully look back, so that she was turned 
into a pillar of salt ; the obvious lesson drawn from 
this would be, that «< we ought to be on our guard 
against worldly mindedness ;" — and the application of 
that lesson to the coming circumstances would have 
been something like this. " When you are com- 
manded to flee from Jerusalem for your lives, and 
remember that your worldly goods are left behind, 
what should you do .?" — " We should not turn back 
for them."" " From what do you get that lesson .? ' — 
«' From the conduct and fate of Lot's wife.'' 

In a similar way, the apostle James prepared Chris- 
tiansfor humble resignation and patient endurance un- 
der coming trials, by calling to their remembrance *'the 
patience of Job." He stated the trials to which they 
were to be exposed, and then he directed their atten- 
tion to the Scripture example which was to regulate 
them in their endurance of them. Now it is obvious 
that a teacher, in communicating the history of Job 
to the young, should follow this example, and should 
make the same use of it that the apostle did, not only 
by drawing the lesson, that he *' ought to be patient,"*' 
but in applying that lesson to temptations to which the 
child is flikely to be exposed, as James did to the 
circumstances in which he knew Christians were 
to be placed. As for example, when the child had 
drawn the lesson, that " we should be patient under 
suffering," the teacher might apply it in a great variety 
of ways, each of which would be a delightful exercise 
of mind to the child, — would impress the lesson and 
its source more firmly upon the memory, — and would 
prepare him for the circumstances in which the lesson 
might be required. Were the teacher accordingly 
to ask, " If you were confined by long continued 



THE FHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 277 

sickness ; — or if you were suffering under great pain ; 
— or if you were oppressed by the cruelty of others, 
and could not help yourself; — or, if you were grieved 
by being separated from your friends, — what would 
be your duty ?'" The answer to each would be, 
'' We ought to be patient." — " From what do you 
get that lesson ? — " From the conduct of Job, who 
was patient under his sufferings." 

The apostle Paul follows a similar plan, in apply- 
ing the practical lessons drawn from the conduct of 
the Israelites in the wilderness, for fortifying the 
Corinthians against temptations to which they were 
likely to be exposed,* and tells them that this is 
the use to be made of Old Testament history. 
These lives are '' en samples,'' and are " written for 
our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are 
come." — In like manner he forwarned the Hebrews 
against discontent and covetousness,-|- by drawing a 
general lesson from a special promise made to Jo- 
shua; and then exhorts every Christian to apply it to 
himself personally, by employing the language which 
he puts into their mouths, " The Lord is my helper, 
and I will not fear what man can do unto me." 

In the same way, when our Lord repeatedly says, 
" Have ye not read .f^" and, " Thus it is written," he 
gives us obvious indications of the importance of the 
duty of thus preparing for temptation, by theappHca- 
tion of our lessons from Scripture. They are each and 
all of them examples of practical lessons derived from 
knowledge formerly acquired, and now employed in 
the way of application, to connect that knowledge 
with corresponding circumstances as they occur in 
ordinary life. The lesson, it will be observed, and 
as we formerly explained, is always made the con- 
necting link which unites the two ; and without 
which there is no such thino-asthe brinoinei;of know- 
ledge and its use together, when that knowledge is 

* 1 Cor. X. 1—1 1. t Heb. xiii. 5, 6. 



278 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

required. In other words, without the lesson, know- 
ledge is useless ; and, without the application of the 
lesson, knowledge is never used. Both therefore are 
necessary, and both should be rendered familiar to 
the young. It is only necessary here to observe, 
that in teaching the children to draw the lessons, the 
teacher proceeds forwards from the knowledge com- 
municated, and, by deducing the lesson, prepares the 
child for the events in life when they shall be neces- 
sary ; — but in applying the lessons, he proceeds 
backwards, from the events, through the lesson to the 
knowledge from which it is derived. We have a 
beautiful example of this in the recorded temptations 
of our Lord. He was tempted to turn stones into 
bread ; here was the event which required a know- 
ledge of the corresponding duty ; and he immediately 
applied the lesson that " we should not distrust God, ' 
and through this lesson, though not expressed, he 
went directly back to the source from which it was 
drawn, by saying, " Thus it is written, Man shall 
not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"* 
When in like manner he was tempted to throw himself 
from the temple, he immediately, through the lesson 
" that we should not unnecessarily presume on the 
goodness of God," went to the passage of Scripture 
from which it was drawn ; — and, in the same way, when 
tempted to worship Satan, there was precisely the 
same process ; — a lesson, derived from previous know- 
ledge and applicable to the circumstances, used as 
a uniting link to make the duty and the Scripture 
exactly to correspond. 

Of doing all this which we have described above, 
even children are capable. This has been again and 
again proved by repeated experiments, and now by 
extensive experience in many schools. The difficul- 
ties of introducing it, even for the first time in any 
seminary, do not lie with the children, who in every 
case have shewn themselves quite adequate to the 
exercise ; and wherever it has been followed up with 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 279 

corresponding energy, they have been raised much 
higher in the grade of intelligence and mental capa- 
city by its means. This will be evident from the 
following, taken from among many examples. 

The criminals in Edinburgh Jail during the short 
time they were under instruction, acquired considera- 
ble facility in this valuable art. The report states, 
that " some of them were afterwards exercised on 
the application of the lessons. This part consists in 
supposing certain circumstances and temptations, to 
which they may be exposed in ordinary life, and then 
leaving them, by a very profitable, and usually a very 
pleasant operation of their own minds, in reference 
to these, to call up to their recollection, and to hold 
in review, the whole accumulated range of their pre- 
vious knowledge. Among the various classes of 
things thus brought in order before the eye of the 
mind, they are easily taught to discriminate all those 
precepts and examples which are analogous to the 
cases supposed} from which again they very readily 
select appropriate lessons to guide them in these emer- 
gencies ; thus linking the lessons to the circumstan- 
ces, which is done in the previous exercise of deducing 
them ; and then the circumstances to the lessons ; 
and in this manner, establishing a double tie between 
the understanding and the conscience. 

" For example, a woman from the Lock-up House, 
being asked how she ought to conduct herself when 
the term of her confinement was expired ? answered. 
That she ought not to return to her sinful courses, or 
wicked companions-^ lest a worse fate should befal her. 
When again interrogated where she got this lesson, 
she immediately referred to the case of Lot, who, 
being once rescued from captivity by Abraham, re- 
turned again to wicked Sodom, where he soon lost 
all his property) and escaped only with his life. 
Another being asked what she should do, when in- 
volved in a quarrel with troublesome companions ? 
replied, That she should endeavour to be at peace. 



280 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

even though she should lose a little by it ; and pro- 
duced as her authority the conduct of Abraham, who 
when Lot's herdsmen and his could not agree, gave 
Lot his choice of the country, in order to secure 
peace.'' 

The children in Aberdeen also found no difficulty 
in perceiving the use, and in applying the lessons to 
their common affairs. The report of that Experi- 
ment states, that " the most important part of the 
exercise, — that which shewed more particularly the 
great value of this System, and with which the Meet- 
ing were especially struck, — was the appropriate ap- 
lication of the lessons from Scripture, which they 
had previously drawn. They were desired to sup- 
pose themselves placed in a great variety of situations, 
and were asked how they ought to conduct them- 
selves in each of these. A few examples may be 
given? though it is quite impossible to do justice to 
the subject. A boy, for instance, was asked, ' If 
your parents should become infirm and poor, how 
ought you to act towards them ?^ ' I ought,' re- 
plied the boy, ' to work, and help them.' And 
being asked, ' Whence he drew that lesson .^' he 
referred to the conduct of Ruth, who supported 
Naomi and herself, by gleaning in the fields. — A girl 
was asked, ' If your mother were busy, and had 
more to do in the family than she could easily ac- 
complish, what ought you to do ?'' Her answer was^ 
' I ought to give her assistance;' and she referred 
to the conduct of Saul, in assisting his father to re- 
cover the asses which were lost ; and to that of David, 
in feeding his father's sheep when his brothers were 
at the wars. — A little boy was asked, ^ If your pa- 
rents were too indulgent, and seemed to give you all 
your own will, what ought you to do ?' « I ought 
not to take it,' replied the boy very readily ; and 
added, that it was taking his OM^n will that caused 
the ruin of the prodigal son. Another boy being 
asked, ' If you should become rich, what would be 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 281 

your duty to the poor ?' answered, ' I ought to be 
good to the poor ; but it would be better to give 
them work than to give them money ; for Boaz did 
not give Ruth grain, but bade his shearers let some 
fall, that she might get it by her own industry." '' 

In the Experiment in London, a child was asked, 
" When you live with brothers and sisters who are 
wicked, w hat should you do ?" and answered, " I 
should not join with them in their sins.'' And when 
asked where she got that lesson, answered, " From 
Joseph, who would not join with his brothers in their 
sin.'" — Another was asked, "' When you see others 
going heedlessly on in the commission of sin, what 
should you do .'*"" and answered, " I should warn 
them of their danger ;" and referred to Noah, who 
u'arned the wicked while building the ark. — Again, 
** When people about you are given to quarrel, what 
should you do?" We should endeavour to make 
peace ; and referred to Abram endeavouring to re- 
main at peace with Lot's herdsmen. — " When you 
have grown up to be men and women, what should 
you do ?^' *' We should go to a trade, and be indus- 
trious;" and referred to Cain and Abel following 
their different employments. — " When two situations 
occur, one -where you will get more money, but where 
the people are wicked and ungodly ; and the other? 
where you will get less money, but have better 
company, which should you choose.'^"' " The good 
company, though with less money ;'"* and referred to 
Lot's desire for riches taking him to live in wicked 
Sodom, where he lost all that he had. — " Whei^ 
your parents get old, and are unable to support them- 
selves, what should you do ?''"' " AVe should work for 
them ;" and referred to Ruth gleaning for the sup- 
port of her old mother-in-law ; and another referred 
to Joseph bringing his father to nourish him in Go- 
shen. — " When your parents or masters give you 
any important work or duty to perform, what should 
you do.'"' " We should pray to God for success^ 
2 a3 



282 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

and for his direction and help in performing it;" and 
referred to Abraham's servant praying at the well. — 
" When we find people wishing to take advantage of 
us aiHl cheat us, what should we do?" « Leave 
them ;'' and referred to Jacob with his family leaving 
Laban. — '' Were any one to tempt you to lie or com- 
mit a sin, what should you do?'' « We ought not 
to be tempted ;"" and referred to Abraham making 
Sarah tell a lie in Egypt. — " How should you behave 
to strangers?'' " We should be kind to them ;" and 



■&-"& -■•;»,> 



u^.,^ " mas- 



ter or mistress to have the choice of two servants, 
one clever, but ungodly, and the other not so clever, 
but pious, which one should be chosen ?" " The 
pious servant f and referred to Potiphar, whom God 
blessed and prospered for Joseph's sake. — " When 
any one has injured us, what should we do?"" " For- 
give them;"- and referred to Joseph forgiving and 
nourishing his brethren. — '' When you have once 
escaped the snares and designs of bad company, what 
should you do ?'' " We should never go back again ;" 
and referred to Lot going back again to live in So- 
dom from which he at last escaped only with his life." 
In the account given of the Newry Experiment, 
the boys were equally ready in applying for their 
own benefit the lessons they had drawn from their 
knowledge of anatomy and physiology. The account 
says, that " the most interesting, as well as the most 
edifying part of the examination, and which exhibited 
the great value of this method of teaching the sciences 
to the young, was the application of these lessons to 
the circumstances of ordinary life. Circumstances 
were supposed, in which they or others might be 
placed, and they were required to apply the lessons 
they had drawn for their direction, and for regulat- 
ing their conduct in every such case. This they did 
with great sagacity, and evident delight, and in a 
manner which tionvinced the audience that the few 
hours during which they had been employed in. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 283 

making these acquisitions, instead of being irksome 
and laborious, as education is too often considered by 
the young, were obviously among the happiest and 
the shortest they had ever spent in almost any em- 
ployment, — their play not excepted. We shall give 
a speciment of these, and the answers given, as nearly 
as can be recollected. 

'* The case of walking in a frosty day was supposed, 
and they were asked what, in that case, ought to be 
done ? The answer was, That we should take care 
not to fall. Why ? Because the bones are easily 

broken in frosty weather. When heated and 

feverish in a close room, what should be done ? Let 
in fresh air ; because it is the want of oxygen in the 
air we breathe that causes such a feeling, but which 
the admission of fresh air supplies. When trou- 
bled with listlessness, and impeded circulation, what 
should we do ? Take exercise ; because the con- 
traction of the muscles by walking, working, or 
otherwise, forces the blood to the heart, and through 
the lungs, by which health and vigour is promoted. 

Where should we take exercise ? In the country, 

or in the open air ; because there the air is purer 
than in a house or a town, where fires, smoke, frequent 
breathing, and other things, render the atmosphere 

unwholesome.^ Would breathing rapidly, without 

exercise, not nourish the blood equally well ? No ; 
because although more air be drawn into the lungs, 
there would be no more blood to combine with its 

oxygen. What should be done, when candles in a 

crowded church burn dim, although they do not need 
snuffing ? Let in fresh air ; because the air is then 
unwholesome for want of oxygen ; which, carried to 
a great extent, would cause fainting in the people, 

and would extinguish the candles themselves. 

When a fire is Hke to go out, what should be done.? 
Blow it up with bellows. Why not by the mouth? 
Because the air blown from the lungs has lost great 
part of its oxygen, by which alone the fire burns. 



284 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

Why then does a fire blown with the mouth burn at 
all ? Because part of the oxygen remains, said one 
boy ; and another added, *' and because part of the 
surrounding air is blown in along with it." 

At the second meeting with these boys, occasioned 
by the unexpected circumstances formerly alluded 
to, they were summarily, and without previous no- 
tice, taken from their school to another public meet- 
ing, without knowing for what purpose they were 
brought, and had to undergo a still more searching 
examination on what they had been previously 
taught. Here again they shewed their dexterity in 
making use of their lessons, by the application of 
them, and proved that they had been doing so to 
themselves in the intercourse which they had had with 
their relations at home. The account goes on to say, 
that " they were then more fully and searchingly 
examined than at first ; and there being more time, 
they were much longer under the exercise. It was 
then found, that the information formerly communi- 
cated was not only remembered, but that the several 
truths were much more familiar, in themselves and 
in their connection with each other, than they had 
been at the former meeting. This had evidently 
arisen from their own frequent meditations upon them 
since that time, and their application of the several 
lessons, either with one another, their parents, or 
themselves. The medical gentlemen were again pre- 
sent, and professed themselves equally pleased. The 
lessons, with considerable additions, were also given, 
and the applications especially were greatly extended. 
In these last they appeared to be perfectly at home ; 
and relevant circumstances might have been multi- 
plied for double the time, without their having any 
difficulty in applying the lessons, and giving a reason 
for their application.'' 

But the most satisfactory of all the experiments on 
this point, as implying the possession of a well-culti- 
vated mind, holding at command an extensive field 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 285 

of useful knowledge, was the one in Leitb? although 
from accident, or inadvertence on the part of the re- 
porter, a large portion of it has been lost to the pubHc. 
The following fragment, however, will be sufficient 
to shew its nature and its value. The examinator 
wished '' to ascertain the power which the children 
possessed of applying the passage to their own con- 
duct ; and for this purpose, he proposed several cir- 
cumstances in which they might be placed, and asked 
them to show how this portion of Scripture directed 
them to act. — Supposing, said he, that your father 
and mother were to neglect to take you to church 
next Sunday, would that be wrong ? — Yes. — From 
what do you get that lesson ? And when he was 
twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after 
the custom of the feast. — Is it right that children 
should go to church with their parents ? Yes. — 
Why ? Because Jesus went with his parents. — 
Would it be right for you to go out of church during 
the time of the service? No. — Why.? Joseph and 
Mary remained till the service was over. 

" The next point to be ascertained was, whether 
the children were able^ not only to perceive what pas- 
sages of Scripture were applicable in particular cir- 
cumstances, but also to find out what circumstances 
in life those passages might be applied to. For this 
purpose, Mr Gall asked, ' Could you tell me any 
circumstances which may happen, in which you may 
be called on to remember that Joseph and Mary 
attended public worship ?' — If a friend were to take 
dinner or tea with us, that should not detain us from 
attending church, — Idle amusements should not de- 
tain us from church ; and nothing should keep us 
from it but sickness. 

" Mr Gall again expressed his unabated satisfac- 
tion at the results of the examination, in proving the 
intellectual acquirements of the children. But so 
important did the application of the lessons appear to 
him, that he must trespass still further upon the time 



286 phactical enquiry into 

of the meeting by a more severe test of the children's 
practical training on this particular point. It was a 
test which he believed to be altogether new to them ; 
but if they should succeed, it will prove still more 
satisfactorily, that their knowledge of Scripture has 
made it become, in reality, a light to their feet, and 
a lamp to their path. 

" Mr Gall then produced a little narrative tract, 
which he read aloud to the children ; and after the 
statement of each moral circumstance detailed in it, 
he asked the children whether it was right or wrong. 
When the children answered that it was rlghU he 
required them to prove that it was so, by some state- 
ment in the word of God, because the Bible should 
to them, and to every Christian, be the only standard 
of what is right and wrong; and so, in the same 
manner, when they said that it was wrongs he required 
them also to prove it from Scripture. 

" As soon as the children perceived what was want- 
ed, passages of Scripture, both of precept and exam- 
ple, were brought forward with as much readiness 
and discrimination as before. The only exception, 
was one or two quotations from the Shorter Cate- 
chism in proof of their positions, which were of course 
rejected, as deficient of the required authority.'" 

The concluding remarks by the Right Honourable 
and Reverend reporters of the Experiment in Edin- 
burgh, may with propriety be here given, as it is 
applicable, not only to prison discipline, but to edu- 
cation in general. " The result of this important 
experiment,"' they say, " was, in every point, satis- 
factory. Not only had much religious knowledge 
been acquired by the pupils, and that of the most 
substantial, and certainly the least evanescent kind ; 
but it appeared to have been acquired with ease, and 
even with satisfaction — a circumstance of material 
importance in every case, but especially in that of 
adult prisoners. But the most uncommon and im- 
portant feature of it was, the readiness which they, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 287 

in this short period, had acquired of deducing Prac- 
tical Lessons from what they had read or lieard, for 
the regulation of their conduct. Every leading cir- 
cumstance in Scripture, by this peculiar feature of 
the System, was made to reflect its light on the va- 
rious common occurrences of ordinary life, by which 
the pupils themselves were enabled to judge of the 
real nature of each particular act, and to adopt, or 
to shun it, as the conscience thus enlightened should 
dictate. The acting and re-acting, indeed, of every 
branch of the System, upon each other, interweaves 
so thoroughly the lessons of Scripture with the feel- 
ings and thoughts of their minds, and associates them 
so closely with the common circumstances of life, that 
it is almost impossible that either the portions of the 
Bible which they have thus learned, or the practical 
lessons thus drawn from them, should, at any future 
period, escape from their remembrance. The evolu- 
tions of their future life, will disclose circumstances 
which they are prepared to meet, by having lessons 
laid up in store, adapted to such occurrences ; and 
especially, when the mental habit is formed of apply- 
ing Scripture in this manner, there is scarcely an 
event which can happen, but against its tempting in- 
fluence they will be fortified by the armour of divine 
truth. — Their compliance with temptation, should 
that take place, will not be done without a compunc- 
tion of conscience, arising from some pointed and 
warning example that comes in all its urgency before 
their minds ; — and they will, when seduced from 
rectitude, have a light within them, and a clue of 
divine truth, to guide them out of the dark and mazy 
labyrinth of error and crime, into the path of duty 
and virtue. It is God alone that can bless such in- 
struction, and render it savingly efficacious ; but 
surely the inference is fair, that this System furnishes 
us with an instrument, which, if skilfully employed, 
will effect all that man can do for his erring brother 
or sister." 



288 PRACTICAL E^CIUIRY INTO 



CHAP. XI. 

On the Imitation of Nature-, in training her Pupils 
fluently to communicate their Knowledge > 

There is a fourth, or supplementary process in 
Nature's educational course, the successful imitation 
of which promises to be of great general benefit, as 
soon as it shall be universally adopted in our ele- 
mentary schools. It is, as it were? the door-way of 
intellect, — the break in the cloud, through which the 
sun-light of concocted knowledge is to find its way, 
to enlighten and cheer the general community. — 
We refer to that acquirement, by which persons are 
enabled, without distraction of mind, internally to 
prepare and arrange their ideas, at the moment they 
are verbally communicating them to others. 

When this process is analysed, we find, as explain- 
ed in a former chapter, that it consists simply in an 
ability to think, and to arrange our thoughts at the 
time we are speaking ; — to exercise the mind on one 
set of ideas, at the moment we are giving expression 
to another. Simple as this at first sight may appear, 
we have seen that it is but very gradually arrived 
at ; — that many persons, otherwise possessing great 
abilities, never can command it ; — that it is altoge- 
ther an acquisition depending upon the use of proper 
means ; — but that, at the same time, any person 
whatever, by submitting to the appropriate disci- 
pline, may attain almost any degree of perfection in 
its exercise. The object required by the teacher, 
therefore, is a series of exercises, by means of which 
bis pupils will be trained to think and to speak at 
the same moment ; to have their minds busily occu- 
pied with some object or idea, while their powers of 
speech are engaged in giving utterance to something 
else. For the purpose of suggesting such an exer- 
cise, we shall again attend shortly to the exhibition 



THE PHILOSOl'UV OF EDUCATION. 289 

of the process, as we find it under the superintendence 
of Nature. 

An infant, as vje formerly explained, can for along 
period utter only one or two words at a time, — not 
because it is unacquainted with more, but because it 
has not yet acquired the power of thinking the second 
word, while it is giving utterance to the first. It 
has to attain, by steady practice, and by slow degrees, 
the ability of commanding the thoughts, while utter- 
ing two, three, or more words consecutively, without 
a pause. A child also, whose mind is engaged with 
its toys, cannot for some time, during its early 
mental advances, attend to a speaker ; much less 
can it think of, and arrange an answer to a question, 
while it continues its play. It has to stop, and 
think ; it then gives the information required ; and 
after this it will perhaps resume its play, but not 
sooner. When a child can speak and continue its 
amusements, it is an evidence of considerable mental 
power; and as Nature makes use of its play, for the 
purpose of increasing this ability, the teacher, and 
especially the parents, ought to excite and encourage 
every attempt at conversation w^hile the pupil is so 
employed. But our object at present is to arrive at 
one or more regular exercises that shall embody the 
principle ; exercises which may at all times be at 
the command, and under the controul of the teacher 
and parent, and which may form part of the daily 
useful arrangements of the school or the family. 
The following are a few, among many, which we shall 
briefly notice, before introducing one which promises 
to be still more beneficial, and more generally appli- 
cable to the economy of literary pursuits, and the 
arrangements of the academy. 

One of the exercises which assists in attaining the 
end here in view, we have already alluded to, as being 
successfully employed by Nature for the purpose, — 
that is, the child's play. Any amusement which re- 
quires thought or attention, is well calculated to an- 
2b 



290 PRACTICAL ENaClRY INTO 

swer this purpose, — ^and if the child can be induced 
and trained to speak and play at the same time, his 
thinking powers being occupied by the external use of 
his toys, the end of the teacher will in so far be gained. 
Questions put to a child at that time, and answers 
given by him while he continues to exercise his mind 
upon his amusements, will prepare the way, and 
greatly assist in giving him the power of exercising 
it upon ideas, without the help of these external and 
tangible objects. The principle in both cases is the 
same, although in the one it is not carried out to the 
same extent as it is in the other. And here we can- 
not help remarking, how extensive and important a 
field the working of this principle opens up to the 
ingenious toy-man. If a game, or games, can be in- 
vented, where the child must have his attention oc- 
cupied with one object, while he is obliged to answer 
questions, or to make observations, or to detail facts, 
or in any other way to employ his speaking powers 
extemporaneously, (not repeating words by rote,) 
the person who does so will greatly edify the young, 
and benefit the public. 

Another method by which the principle may be 
called into exercise, is to tell a short story, or simple 
anecdote, and then to require the child to rehearse it 
again. In doing this, the mind of the child is em- 
ployed in communing with the memory, while he is 
engaged in detailing to the teacher or monitor, the 
special circumstances in their order. Upon the 
principles of individuation and grouping, too, (the 
two most important principles, be it observed, which 
Nature employs with young children,) we can per- 
ceive, that it will be much easier for the child, and 
at least equally powerful in producing the effect, if 
the teacher or parent shall confine himself to one or 
two stories or anecdotes at a time, till, by repeated 
attempts, the child can in its own words? and in its 
own way, readily and fluently detail the whole of the 



\ 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 291 

circumstances to the parent or teacher, whenever re- 
quired. 

A similar mode of accomplishing the same object, 
when the child is able to read, is, to require him at 
home to peruse a story of some length, and to re- 
hearse what he can remember of it next day. This 
ought, however, in every case to be a narrative, or 
anecdote, consisting of groupings which the child 
can, on reading, picture on his mind. If this be 
neglected, there is danger of the child's being harassed 
and burdened, without any corresponding benefit 
being produced. It is here also worthy of remark, 
that l3r Mayo's " Lessons on Objects'' may be em- 
ployed for this purpose with considerable effect. If 
a list of qualities, such as colour, consistence, tex- 
ture, kc. be put into the child's hand, and he be re- 
quired to elucidate and rehearse those relating to one 
particular object, either placed before him, or, what is 
better, one with which he is acquainted, but which at 
the time he does not see, the eye and the mind will be 
engaged with his paper, and in recollecting the parti- 
cular qualities of the object, at the same time that he 
is employed in communicating his recollections. 

Another method for producing the same end, con- 
sists in the parent or teacher repeating a sentence to 
the child, and requiring him to remember it, and to 
spell the several words in their order. Here the 
child has to remember the whole sentence, to observe 
the order of the several words, to chuse them one after 
another as he advances, and to remember and re- 
hearse the letters of which each is composed. The 
mental exercise here is exceedingly useful, besides the 
advantages of training children to correct spelling. 
At the commencement of this exercise with a child, 
the sentence must be short, and he may be permitted 
to repeat each word after he has spelled it, which 
will help him to remember the word that follows; — 
but as he advances, he may be made to spell the 
whole without pronouncing the words; and the 



292 PttACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

length of the sentence maj be made to correspond 
with his abiHty. Great care however should be 
taken by the teacher that this exercise be correctly 
performed. 

Many other methods for exercising the child's 
mind and oral powers at the same moment, will be 
suggested by the ingenuity of teachers, and by ex- 
perience ; and wherever a teacher hits upon one 
which he finds efficient, and which works well with 
his children, it is to be hoped that he will not de- 
prive others of its benefit. Such communications in 
education, like mercy, are twice blessed. But the 
exercise which, for its simpHcity and power, as well 
as for the extent of its application to the business and 
arrangements of the school, appears to answer the 
purpose best, and which embodies most extensively 
the stipulations required for the successful imitation 
of Nature in this part of her process, is that which 
has been termed the " Paraphrastic Exercise." The 
exercise here alluded to has this important recom- 
mendation in its practical working, that while it can 
be employed with the child who can read no more 
than a sentence, it may be so modified and extended, 
as to exercise the mental and oral powers of the best 
and cleverest of the scholars to their full extent. 
It consists in making a child read a sentence or pas- 
sage aloud ; and, while he is doing so, in requiring 
him at the same moment, to be actively employed in 
detecting and throwing out certain specified words in 
the passage, and in selecting, arranging, and substi- 
tuting others in their place ; the child still keeping ■ 
to the precise meaning of the author, and studying 
and practising, as far as possible, simplicitv? brevity, 
elegance, and grammatical accuracy. It may be 
asked, '' What child will ever be able to do this ?" 
We answer with confidence, that every sane pupil, 
by using the proper means, may attain it. This is 
no hypothesis, but a fact, of which the experiment in 
Leith gives good collateral proof, and of which long 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 293 

and uniform experience has afforded direct and ample 
evidence. Any teacher, or parent indeed, may by a 
single experiment upon the very dullest of his pupils 
who can read, be satisfied on the point. Such a 
child, by leaving out and paraphrasing first one 
word in a sentence, then two, three, or more, as he 
acquires ability, will derive all the advantages above 
described ; and, by advancing in the exercise, he may 
have his talents taxed during the whole progress of 
his education to the full extent of their powers. It 
is in this that one great recommendation lies to this 
exercise, — it being adapted to every grade of intellect, 
from the child who can only paraphrase a single word 
at a time, to the student who, while glancing his eye 
over the passage, can give the scrpe of the whole in 
a perfectly new form, and in a language and style 
entirely his own. Of the nature and versatility of 
this exercise we shall give a single example. 

Let us for this purpose suppose that a child sees 
in the first answer of the First Initiatory Catechism, 
the words, " God at first created all things to shew 
his greatness,'' and that the teacher wishes to exercise 
his mind in the way, and upon the principle of which 
we are here speaking, by making him paraphrase it. 
He begins by ascertaining that the child knows the 
exact meaning of one or more of the several terms 
used in the sentence, and can give the meaning in 
other words. As for example, he should be able to 
explain that the first word means, '« the Almighty ;" 
— that the words at " first,'' here signifies, at " the 
beginning of time;""— that " created'"" means, "brought 
into existence;"" — that the term '* all things," as here 
used, indicates, *' all the worlds in Nature, with their 
inhabitants;" — that the phrase to " shew,"" means to 
'* exhibit to his rational creatures ;" — and that his 
" greatness,"*' at the close implies, his " infinite ma- 
jesty and perfections." 

Now it must be obvious, that any one of these 
explanations may be made familiar to the dullest 
2b3 



294 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

child thai can read ; and if this can be done, the 
principle may immediately be brought into exercise. 
For example, when the child knows that the first 
word means " the Almighty,"*' and that '" first" is 
another way of expressing '* the beginning of time," 
he is required to read the whole sentence, and in 
doing so, to throw out these two words, and to sub- 
stitute their meanings. He wi]l then at once read 
the sentence thus : *' [The Almighty,] at [the be- 
ginning of time,] created all things to shew his 
greatness." The same thing may be done with any 
one or more of the others ; and if the child at first 
feels any difficulty with two, the teacher has only, 
upon the principle of individuation, to make one of 
them familiar, before he be required to attend to 
a second ; and to have two rendered easy before 
he goes forward to the third. Each explanation can 
be mastered in its turn, and may then be employed in 
forming the paraphrase ; by which means the child's 
mind is called to the performance of double duty, — 
reading from his book, — throwing out the required 
words, — remembering their explanations, — inserting 
them regularly and grammatically, — and perhaps 
transposing, and re-constructing the whole sentence, 
— at the moment that he is giving utterance to that 
which the mind had previously arranged. 

The same thing may be done with a sentence from 
any book, although not so systematically prepared 
for the purpose as the Initiatory Catechisms have 
been. The explanations of any of the words which 
may be pointed out, or under-scored by the teacher, 
can easily be mastered in the usual way by any of 
the children capable of reading them ; and if he 
shall be gradually and regularly trained to do this 
frequently, his command of words, in expressing his 
own ideas, and his ability to use them correctly, will 
very soon become extensive and fluent. The impor- 
tance of this to the young is much more valuable and 
necessary than is generally supposed. Nature evi- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 295 

dently intends that childhood and youth should be 
the seed-time of language; and the exercise here re- 
commended, when persevered in, is well calculated to 
produce an abundant harvest of words, suited for all 
kinds of oral communications. — Its importance in this 
respect, as well as its efficiency in fulfilling all the 
stipulations necessary for imitating Nature in the 
exercise of the principle which we are here illustrat- 
ing, will be obvious to any reader by a very simple 
experiment. 

For this purpose the sentence which we have al- 
ready employed may, for the sake of illustration, be 
represented in the following form. — " [Grod] at [first] 
[created] all [things] to [shew] his [greatness.]"" — 
Here each of the words, which we formerly supposed 
to be explained by the child, is inclosed in brackets. 
Now if the reader will be at the pains of trying the 
experiment upon himself, and shall endeavour to ob- 
serve the various operations of his own mind during 
it, he will at once perceive the correctness of the 
above remarks. That he may have the full benefit 
of this experiment, he has only to fix upon any one 
— but only one — of the inclosed words in the above 
sentence, and having ascertained its precise meaning 
as before given, he must read the sentence aloud 
from the beginning, following the words with his eye 
in the ordinary way, till he arrives at the word he 
has fixed on. This he leaves out, and in its stead 
inserts the explanation, and then goes on to read the 
remainder of the sentence. — At the first trial he will 
perhaps be able to detect in his own mind some of 
the difficulties, which the less matured intellect of 
the young pupil has to encounter in his early attempts 
to succeed in the exercise ; but he will also see, that 
it is a difficulty easily overcome when it is presented 
singly, and when the pupil is permitted to grapple 
with the paraphrasing of each word by itself. The 
reader will also be able to trace the operation of the 
young mind while engaged with the explanations, 



296 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

which differ entirely from the words which he is at 
the moment looking upon and reading. He will ob- 
serve, that when the eye of the child arrives at the 
word fixed upon, he has to pause in his utterance for 
a moment, till the mind goes in search of what it 
requires ; in the same way, and upon precisely the 
same principle, that an infant who has managed to 
speak one word, has to stop, and go in search of the 
next, and then to concentrate the powers of its mind 
upon it, before he can give it expression. But if the 
reader will repeat the operation to himself upon the 
same word^ till he can read its explanation in the 
sentence without difficulty and without a pause ; and 
then do the same with two, then with three, and so 
on, till he has completed the whole ; he will be able 
to appreciate in some measure the importance of this 
exercise in training the young to such a command of 
language, as will enable them, on all known subjects, 
to deliver fluently, and in any variety of form, the 
precise shade of meaning which they wish to express. 

This of itself will be a great attainment by the 
pupil ; but it is not all. The reader will also per- 
ceive what must be the necessary result of persever- 
ing in this exercise, during the time of a child's at- 
tendance at school, in training him to that calm self- 
possession,— that perfect command of the mind and 
the thoughts, — while engaged in speaking, which the 
frequent and gradually extended use of this exercise 
is so well calculated to afford. All the children of 
a school, without exception, may be exercised by its 
means, and upon the same paragraph ; for w^hile, by 
the paraphrasing of but one word in a clause, it is 
within the reach of the humblest intellect ; yet, by 
the changes and transpositions necessary in more 
difficult passages, either to smooth asperities, or to 
avoid grammatical errors, it provides an extempo- 
raneous exercise suited to the talents of the highest 
grade in any seminary. 

The collateral advantages also of this exercise, are 



THE PKILOSOPHY OF EEUCATIOX. 297 

both valuable and extensive. The operation of the 
principle which supposes double duty by the mind, 
enters into the nature of numerous acts in ordinary 
life, besides that of thinking and speaking, and which 
a perfect command of the thoughts in paraphrasing 
will tend greatly to facilitate. — For example, it will 
greatly assist the pupil in making observations during 
conversation, in attending to the weak and strong 
points of an argument, and in preparing his materials 
for a reply, while he is all the time hearing and stor- 
ing up the ideas of a speaker. — It will enable him 
more extensively, and more deliberately to employ 
his mind on useful subjects while engaged with his 
work, even in those cases where a considerable degree 
of thought is required ; — and it will greatly aid him 
in acquiring the art of " a ready writer,'^ and will be 
available, both when he himself writes his own 
thoughts, or when he requires to dictate them to 
others. Many persons who can express their ideas 
well enough by speech, find themselves greatly at a 
loss when they sit down to write them ; — and this 
arises entirely from the want of that command of the 
mind which is necessary whenever it is called on to 
do double duty. The person cannot think of that 
which he wishes to write, and at the same moment 
guide the hand in writing ; in the same way, and for 
the same reason, that a child cannot answer a ques- 
tion and yet continue his play. By the use of the 
paraphrastic exercise, however, the pupil will soon 
be enabled not only to concoct in his own mind what 
he intends to write, during the time he is writing; 
but the faculty may, by the same means, be cultivated 
to such an extent, that he may at last be able to 
dictate to two clerks at a time, and sometimes perhaps, 
(as it has been affirmed some have done) even to three. 
A similar collateral advantage, which will arise 
from the persevering use of the paraphrastic exercise, 
deserves a separate consideration. — It will gradually 
create a capacity to take written notes of a subject, 



298 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

either in the church, the senate, or the lecture room, 
during the time that the speaker is engaged in de- 
livering it. It is in the abihty to hear and concoct 
in the mind one set of ideas, while writing down an 
entirely different set, that the whole art of accurate 
" reporting" consists. The writing part of the pro- 
cess is purely mechanical ; the perfection of the art 
consists chiefly in the command which the reporter 
acquires over the powers of his mind. The person 
while so employed has to. hear and reiterate the ideas 
of the speaker as he proceeds ; these he must remem- 
ber and arrange, selecting, abridging, condensing, or 
abandoning, according to the extent of his manual dex- 
terity in writing. But it is worthy of remark, that 
if the person be able to think, — to exercise his mind, 
— and to continue to write without stopping while he 
does so, the amount of what he writes is a mere ac- 
cident, and depends, not upon the state of the mind, 
but upon the mechanical part of the operation, which 
is aided by the arts of stenography and abbreviation. 
This mental capacity is most likely to be acquired 
by the regular and persevering use of the paraphras- 
tic exercise. It will train the pupil to that command 
over his thoughts, which, with a little practice in this 
particular mode of applying it, will soon enable him, 
with perfect self-possession, to hear and to keep up 
with a speaker, while he continues without a pause, 
to write down as much of what has been said, as his 
command of the pen will allow. Without this men- 
tal ability, he could not while listening write at all ; 
but when it has been sufficiently acquired, there is 
no limit to his taking down all that is spoken, except 
what arises from the imperfection of the mechanical 
part of the process, — his manual dexterity. All 
these collateral advantages will accrue to the pupils 
by the use of this exercise ; and this latter one will 
be greatly promoted in a school by a piece of history, 
an anecdote, or a paragraph of any kind, which none 
of the pupils know, being read slowly for only a few 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 299 

minutes, while the whole of the pupils who can write 
are required to take notes at the time, and to stop 
and give them in, as soon as the reading is finished.* 
It is also here worthy of remark,— and it is perhaps 
another proof of the efficiency of the several exercises 
before enumerated as imitations of Nature, — that 
they all, more or less, embody a portion of this prin- 
ciple of double duty performed by the mind. In 
each of them, when properly conducted, the pupil is 
compelled to speak, and to think at the same mo- 
ment. Not a little of their efficiency and value in- 
deed, may be attributed to this circumstance. In 
the catechetical exercise, for example, it is not diffi- 
cult to trace its operation. For in the attempt of 
the child to answer a question previously put to him, 
the teacher will be at no loss to perceive the mind 
gradually acquiring an ability to think of the original 
question and of the ideas contained in the subject 
from which he has selected his answer, at the very 
moment he is giving it utterance. And a knowledge 
of the fact should excite teachers in general, so to 
employ this exercise as to produce this effect.— The 
analytical exercise also, in its whole extent, calls into 
operation the working of this principle, whether 
employed synthetically or analytically. When chil- 
dren are employed with the analytical exercise pro- 
per,^ — as in tracing a practical lesson backwards to 
the subject or circumstance from which it has been 
drawn, and in attaching that circumstance to the 
story or class of truths to which it belongs ; or when, 
as in the " Analysis of Prayer,'"* a text of Scripture 
has to be classified according to its nature, among 
the several parts into which prayer is divided ; — in 
all these cases^ there is this same double operation of 
the mind, searching and comparing one set of ideas, 
while the pupil is employed in giving expression to 
others. 

• Note Z. 



300 PRACTICAL EXaulRY INTO 

The exhibition of the principle will be easily tra- 
ced, from what took place in the experiment in Lon- 
don, where the report states, that " the third class 
were next examined on the nature and practice of pray- 
er. They shewed great skill in comprehending and 
defining the several component parts of prayer, as in- 
vocation, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, petition, 
&c. They first gave examples of each separately; and 
then, with great facility, made selections from each 
division in its order, which they gave consecutively ; 
shewing, that they had acquired, with ease and apti- 
tude, by means of this classification, a most desirable 
scriptural directory in the important duty of prayer. 
They then turned several lessons and passages of 
scripture into prayer ; and the Chairman, and several 
of the gentlemen present, read to them passages from 
various parts of the Bible, which they readily classi- 
fied, as taught in the « Questions on Prayer,' and 
turned them into adoration, petition, confession, or 
thanksgiving, according to their nature, and as they 
appeared best suited for each, Some of the texts 
were of a mixed, and even of a complicated nature ; 
but in every case, even when they were not previous- 
ly acquainted with the passages, they divided them 
into parts, and referred each of these to its proper 
class, as in the more simple and unique verses.'"" 

But a similar working of the same principle takes 
place when the analytical exercise is employed syn- 
thetically, and when the pupil is required to go from 
the root, forward to the extreme branches of the 
analvsis, as is done when he forms an extemporaneous 
prayer, from a previous acquaintance with its several 
divisions and their proper order. In this very neces- 
sary and important branch of a child's education, the 
" Analysis of Prayer" is usually employed, and has, 
in thousands of instances, been found exceedingly 
effective. During this exercise, the child has steadily 
to keep in view the precise form and order of the 
Analysis, and at the same moment he has to select 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 301 

the matter required under each of the parts from the 
miscellaneous contents of his memory, to put them in 
order, and to give them expression. In doing this 
there is a variety of mental operations going on at 
the same moment, during all of which the pupil will 
soon be enabled continuously to give expression to his 
own ideas, with as much ease and self-possession as if he 
were doing nothing more than mechanically repeat- 
ing words previously committed to memory. This 
is a valuable attainment ; and yet the whole of this 
complicated operation of attending to the several 
branches of the analysis, and of selecting, forming, 
and giving utterance to his confessions, his thanks- 
givings, and his petitions, with perfect composure 
and self-possession, is within the reach of every 
Christian child. It is accomplished by a persevering 
exercise of the principle which has been illustrated 
above, and which is exemplified in the paraphrastic 
exercise. Many adults, it is believed, have been 
enabled, with ease and comfort, to commence family 
worship by its means ; and numerous classes have 
been trained to the exercise in a few lessons. We 
shall here detain the reader by only a single example. 
The writer having been requested to meet with the 
Sunday School Teachers of Greenock and its neigh- 
bourhood, about the year 1827 or 1828, paid a visit 
to that place, and had the proposed meeting in a large 
hall of the town, where he endeavoured to explain to 
them, practically, a few of the principles connected 
with Sunday School Teaching, as more scientifically 
detailed in the present Treatise. For the purposes 
of that meeting:, three children belonging to one of 
the Sunday Schools, were for a few hours previously 
instructed, and prepared to exhibit the working of 
some of those principles which, it was hoped, would 
lessen the labour of the Sunday School Teachers, and 
at the same time increase their influence and their 
usefulness. These children, (two girls and a boy,) 
about the ages of ten or twelve years, were regularly 
2c 



302 PRACTICAL ENQLIHY IXTO 

instructed by means of the catechetical exercise, in 
the doctrines, examples, and duties of Christianity ; 
and among other subjects, they were made acquainted 
with the '' Analysis of Prayer,"'' and exercised by its 
means, without its being hinted to them, however, 
what use was intended to be made of it. 

The meeting was a crowded one ; where, besides 
the Sunday School Teachers, and Parents of the 
children, nearly all the Clergymen of the place were 
present. When the more ostensible business of the 
meeting had been concluded, the writer consulted 
privately with two or three of the clergymen, and 
asked, whether they, knowing the general sentiments 
of the persons composing the meeting, would think 
it improper that one of the three children who had 
shewn themselves so intelligent, should be called on 
solemnly to engage in prayer with the audience be- 
fore dismissing. To this they replied, that there 
could be no objections to such a thing, provided the 
children were able;— but of their ability, they very 
seriously doubted. On this point, however, the writer 
assured them there was no fear ; and if that were the 
only objection, they would themselves immediately 
see that it was groundless. The boy accordingly, 
without his even conjecturing such a thing previously, 
was, before the meeting was dismissed, publicly called 
on to engage in prayer. He was for a moment sur- 
prised, and hesifated ; but almost immediately, on 
the request being repeated, he shut his eyes, and 
commenced, with a solemn and faultering voice for 
one or two sentences ; when, recovering from every 
appearance of trepidation, he proceeded with much 
propriety and solemnity of manner, with great lati- 
tude, and yet perfect regularity and self-possession, 
through all the departments of adoration, confession, 
thanksgiving, and petition, in language entirely his 
own, selecting for himself, and arranging his senten- 
ces agreeably to the Analysis, which was evidently 
bis guide from the beginning to the end. This 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 303 

Treatise will, there is little doubt, be read by sonie 
who were that evening present, and who will remem- 
ber the universal feeling of surprise and dehght, at 
the perfect propriety of expression, the serenity of 
mind, and the solemnity of manner, which charac- 
terised the whole of this uncommon exercise. It did 
appear to many as a most unaccountable thing ; but 
when the principle is perceived, as explained above, 
the wonder must at once cease, and we can distinctly 
see, that by using the proper means, the same ability 
is within the reach of all who will be at the pains to 
make the trial. 

This same principle is also exercised to a very 
considerable extent in drawing and applying lessons 
from a previous announcement. A very little at- 
tention to the operations of the mind in that exercise 
will be sufficient to shew this. Let us suppose, for 
example, that an announcement is made to a child, 
from which he is required to draw a practical lesson. 
This announcement must be distinctly present to his 
mind, while he is engaged in considering its meaning, 
its moral character, and its bearing on his own senti- 
ments and conduct ; — but more especially, all this, 
besides the original announcement, has still to be 
kept in view, while he is engaged in giving the lesson 
to the teacher in his own language as required. But 
in the application of the lessons, the principle is still 
more extensively called into operation. The child is 
asked, how he should act in certain given circum- 
stances. These circumstances must accordingly be 
kept steadily before the mind, during the whole of 
the succeeding mental operation. He has to con- 
sider the lesson, or the conduct which he should 
pursue in these circumstances, and then, by the as- 
sociation of his ideas, he must call up from the whole 
of his accumulated knowledge, the precepts, the ex- 
amples, the warnings, and even the implications, which 
form his authority for deciding on the conduct which 
he ought to pursue. These again must be kept before 



304 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

the mind, while he is preparing, and giving in his 
own language his conclusions to his teacher. 

All this was very obvious in the several public ex- 
periments, where the drawing of lessons, and the ap- 
plication of them by the pupils? were introduced. 
— In the case of the adult prisoners in Edinburgh 
County Jail, it was very observable ; and the rolling 
of the eye, and the unconscious movement of the 
head, as if deeply engaged in some mental research 
when an application was required, were peculiarly 
pleasing and obvious to all the spectators. The reason 
was, that they had to keep before their mind, the 
circumstance, or statement, involved in the question 
asked, while they had, at the same time? to review 
the several portions of their knowledge, chuse out 
the passage or example which was calculated to direct 
them in the duty; and then, still keeping these ac- 
cumulated ideas present before the mind, they had 
to prepare and give expression to their answers. 
The same thing had to be done, but to a much 
greater extent, by the children in Aberdeen, in Lon- 
don, and in Newry. But the most satisfactory evi- 
dence of the beneficial working of this principle, in 
the drawing and applying of lessons, and by this 
means in giving even to children a command of lan- 
guage, and a power of extemporaneous speech which 
is but rarely attained even by adults, is to be found 
in the Seventh Experiment in Leith. The writer 
feels more at liberty in descanting upon the extraor- 
dinary results of that investigation with the children, 
because he had no share in their previous instruction ; 
the peculiar merits of which belonged entirely to their 
zealous and pious teacher. He was a plain un- 
lettered man ; and yet he has trained hundreds 
of children in his Sunday school, whose intel- 
lectual attainments, for their age and rank in life, 
the writer has seldom known to be surpassed. There 
were exhibited by the children, from the beginning 
of the experiment to the end, an amount of know- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATIOX. 305 

ledge, a degree of mental culture, a grasp of mind, 
and a fluency of expression, which had never before 
been witnessed in children of a similar class, or of 
the same age, by any person then present. The 
pupils were at the time quite unprepared for any 
extraordinary exhibition; — the subjects were chosen 
indiscriminately by the clergymen present, and were 
repeatedly changed ; — and what is still more extra- 
ordinary? it was found, upon investigation, that the 
subjects were in general entirely new, or at least they 
had never been previously used as exercises in the 
school. The children, however, with all these dis- 
advantages, were perfectly at home in each one of 
them. There appeared to be no exhausting of their 
resources ; and the ease, and copiousness? and fluency 
of their language, were remarked by all present, as 
extraordinary, and by some as almost incredible. 
Many who were present, could scarcely believe that 
the children spoke extemporaneously. All these 
phenomena were simply the eff^ects of the principle 
of which we are here speaking, regularly brought 
into operation, in the weekly acts of drawing and 
applying their practical lessons. The exhibition of 
so much mental power possessed by mere children, — 
and these children collected from the very humblest 
and rudest classes inhabiting a sea-port town, — ap- 
peared to be a circumstance altogether new. The 
oflicial persons present, and the very Rev. Bishop 
Russell, who took an active part in the examination, 
expressed their decided satisfaction at the results of 
the whole experiment ; and the effects of these prin- 
ciples, as illustrated by such children, made the 
present Lord Murray remark publicly at the close 
of the meeting, that it was obviously " a valuable 
discovery, calculated to be extensively useful to so- 
ciety.'' 



2 c 3 



306 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 



PART IV. 

ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND 
SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS AND 
FAMILIES. 



CHAP. I. 

On the General Prmciples which ought to regulate 
our choice of Truths and Subjects to he taught 
to the Young. 

In all cases where our temporal interests are con- 
cerned, a proper discrimination in the selection of 
such exercises and studies as shall best suit our pur- 
pose, is considered as not only prudent, but necessary. 
The neglect of this would, indeed, by men of the 
world, be esteemed the height of folly. No ship-mas- 
ter thinks of perfecting his apprentices by lectures on 
agriculture ; nor does the farmer train his son and 
successor to cultivate the land, by enforcing upon 
him the study of navigation. In a public school, 
therefore, when all classes of the community are to 
be taught, the truths and exercises should be select- 
ed in such a manner, that they shall, if possible, be 
equally useful to all ; leaving the navigator and the 
agriculturist, the surgeon and the lawyer, to supple- 
ment their general education, by the study of those 
special branches of learning which their several pro- 
fessions require. 

But even this is not enough :— Among those sub- 
jects and exercises in which all the children in a 
school may be equally interested, there are many 
which are neither equally useful, nor equally indispen- 
sable. A thorough consideration, and a careful selec- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 307 

tion of those which are most valuable in themselves, 
and which are most likely to be useful during life, 
become both prudent and necessary. In all ordinary 
cases, men act upon this principle. Health, food, 
and recreation, are all good and useful things ; but 
even from among these we are sometimes compelled to 
make a choice, and the principle of our decision 
is always the same. When we cannot procure all, 
we chuse those which appear to us the most neces- 
sary, and abandon the others without regret. A man 
readily denies himself to sports and amusement, 
when he finds that he must labour for a supply of 
food and necessaries ; and even the pleasures of the 
table are willingly sacrificed, for the purpose of se- 
curing or restoring the blessings of health. In like 
manner, those branches of education which are most 
important for securing the welfare of the pupils, 
and most for the benefit of society, ought to be se- 
lected and preferred before all others ; seeing that to 
neglect, or wilfully to err in this matter, would be 
injurious to the child, and unjust to the community. 
— Our object at present therefore is, to enquire what 
those general principles are which ought to regulate 
us in our choice of subjects and exercises for the edu- 
cation of youth. 

1. The first and fundamental rule which ought to 
guide the Educationist and the Parent in the selec- 
tion of subjects for the school, is to chuse those which 
are to promote the happiness and welfare of the pupil 
himself; without regard, in the first instance at least, 
to the interests or the ease of his friends, of the 
teacher, or of any third party whatever. — Children 
are not the property of their parents, nor even of the 
community. They are strictly and unalienably the 
property of the Almighty, whose servants and stew- 
ards the parents and the public are. The child's 
happiness and welfare are entirely his own ; — the 
free gift of his Maker and Master, of which no man, 
without his full consent, has a right to deprive him. 



508 PRACTICAL ENdUIRY INTO 

This happiness, and the full enjoyment of what he 
receives, both here and hereafter, have been made to 
depend on his allegiance and his faithfulness, not to 
his parents, nor even to the public, but to the great 
Lord of both. This allegiance therefore, is his first 
and chief concern, v^'ith which the will and the wishes, 
the interests or the ease, of teachers and parents, have 
nothing to do. If the directions of his Maker and 
Lord are attended to, he has nothing to fear. There 
is in that case secured for him an inheritance that is 
incorruptible, and far beyond the reach or the power 
of any creature. It is for the enjoyment of this in- 
heritance that he has been born ; — it is with the design 
of attaining it, and for increasing its amount, that his 
time is prolonged upon earth ; — it is to secure it for 
him, and to prepare him for it, that the parent has 
been appointed his guardian and guide ; — and it is for 
the purpose of promoting and overseeing all this 
among its members, that a visible church, and church 
officers, have been established and perpetuated in the 
world. 

In so far as each individual child is concerned, the 
parent is the immediate agent appointed by the Al- 
mighty for attending to these objects ; and although, 
in a matter of so much importance, he is permitted 
to avail himself of the assistance of the teacher, he, 
and he only, is responsible to God for the due per- 
formance of those momentous duties which he owes 
to his child. When therefore the parents, for the 
purpose of forwarding some trifling personal advan- 
tage, or the teacher, for his own ease or caprice, are 
found indifferent to the kind of exercises used in the 
school, or to the results of what is taught in it ; — 
doing any thing, or nothing, provided the time is 
allowed to pass, with at least the appearance of 
teaching ; — they are, in such a case, betraying an 
important trust ; they are heedlessly frustrating the 
wishes, and resisting the commands of their Master 
and Lord ; they are sapping the foundations of 



THE FHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 309 

society ; and are thoughtlessly and basely defrauding 
the helpless and unconscious pupil of a most valuable 
patrimony. — In committing to pi rents the keeping 
and administration of this sacred deposit, reason, 
conscience, and Scripture? all unite in declaring, that 
it is given them, not for the promotion of their 
own personal advantages, but for the child's benefit ; 
and that, while they never can be permanently bet- 
tered by its neglect, their good, even in this world, 
will be best and most sureiy advanced by a faithful 
discharge of their duty to their offspring. 

These remarks go to establish the general princi- 
ple, that the parent is not the proprietor, but merely 
the guardian and the administrator of the child's in- 
terests. These interests are of various kinds. And 
although the above remarks refer chiefly to the spiri- 
tual and eternal advantages of the young, that cir- 
cumstance arises merely from their superior value 
and importance. The argument is equally conclu- 
sive in regard to every one of his temporal concerns. 
For if both the parent and the child be the special 
property of God, and if the parent has been appoint- 
ed by him as the conservator and guardian of the 
child's happiness, he has no right either to lessen or 
to destroy it for any selfish purpose of his own. In 
every case — even of discipline — he is bound to follow 
the command and the example given him by his 
Father and Master in heaven, not to chastise his 
offspring for his " own pleasure,**' but for the '' child's 
profit." The rule therefore which ought to regulate 
the parent, and of course the Educationist, in mak- 
ing choice of the subjects and exercises for the 
school, is, that they shall really and permanently 
conduce to the pupiPs welfare and happiness, irre- 
spective of the conflicting interests or wishes, either 
of the teacher, the parent, or the public. These 
will usually be in harmony ; but as a general princi- 
ple, the exercises are to be chosen with reference to 
the welfare of the child, — not of the community. 



310 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

2. Another rule which ought to be attended to in 
the selection of subjects and exercises for the semi- 
nary, is nearly allied to the former, but which we 
think, from its vast importance, should have a sepa- 
rate consideration. It is this, that a decided pre- 
ference should be given to every thing which ad- 
vances the concerns of the soul, above those of the 
body ; — which prefers heaven to earth, — and eternity 
to time, — Man is an accountable and an immortal 
creature ; — and therefore there is no more compari- 
son between the value of those things which refer to 
his happiness in eternity, and those which refer only 
to his enjoyments during his lifetime, than there is 
between a drop of water and the contents of the 
ocean; — nay, between a grain of sand and the whole 
physical universe. The truth of this observation, 
when viewed in the abstract, is never questioned ; 
and yet the educational principles which it naturally 
suggests are too often jostled aside, and practically ne- 
glected. It plainly teaches us, that the young ought 
to be made aware of the comparative nothingness of 
temporal and sensual objects, when placed in com- 
petition with those which refer to their souls and 
eternity ; and that the subjects which are to be 
taught them in the school, should tend to produce 
these feelings. — But this is not always the case ; and 
even when the subjects are in themselves unobjection- 
able, the methods taken for teaching them frequently 
neutralize their effects. The national evils which 
have arisen from this neglect are extensive and la- 
mentable, consisting in an almost exclusive attention 
among all classes to temporal matters, and to sensual 
gratifications. These characteristic features in our 
people may all be traced, from their exhibition in 
general society, to the want of a thorough knowledge 
of those truths which tend so powerfully to deaden 
the influence of the things of sense and time, and 
to moderate our pursuit after them. It is in a 
particular manner at this point that the reckless cu- 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 311 

pidity, and the debased and short-sighted selfishness 
of the lower classes, ought to be met and removed, 
by the enlightened and kindly instructions of more 
capacious minds. Society, as at present constituted, 
acts as if there were no futurity. Time is the eternity 
of thousands ; and therefore they think only of time. 
Had they, as rational creatures, but a correct view,— 
however faint, — of their destination in eternity, their 
conduct and pursuits would very soon be changed, 
and their selected enjoyments would become, not 
only more rational, but much more exquisite. Edu- 
cation is the instrument by which alone this can be 
effected, whether in the church or in the school ; and 
to this point, both parents and children should be 
assiduously directed for their own sakes, and for the 
sake of the community. 

Hitherto there has in education been too much of 
the mere shadow of rational knowledge, without the 
substance ; and the consequence has been, that many 
parents in the lower classes have never been able to 
perceive their oiv7i best interests, and therefore it is 
that their children by them have been equally ne- 
glected. Nor is this only a partial evil, or confined 
to the lower classes. — It is, on the contrary, when 
we examine the matter closely, nearly universal. 
Among ignorant and thoughtless parents, who are 
either unable or unwilling to look any further than 
the few short years of life, the training of their chil- 
dren to figure respectably and gracefully during it, 
may not perhaps excite much wonder ; — but that 
such conduct should be followed by Christian parents, 
who know that both they and their children have soulsj 
and that there is such a thing as eternity before them 
both? is truly hurablini^. Nor is it much for the credit 
of the philosophy of the present day, that while its 
promoters admit as an axiom the superiority of moral 
and religious attainments, they are found in practice 
to bestow their chief attention, and to lavish most 
of their approbation on physical investigations and on 



312 PRACTICAL KNQUIRY INTO 

intellectual pursuits. Every sound thinker must 
see, that by doing so, the first principles of philo- 
sophy are violated ; and many well meaning persons 
are, by this inverted state of public opinion, insensi- 
bly drawn away from the more valuable food pro- 
vided for them as responsible and immortal beings, 
to feed on the mere chaff and garbage of temporal 
and sensual enjoyments ; or the more valuable, but 
still temporary crumbs of the intellectual table. 
That this practical abuse of acknowledged truths 
should be found amon^ the ignorant and the de- 
praved, might perhaps be expected; but that it should 
be witnessed, and yet winked at, by men of learning 
and study? whose comprehensive minds, although 
still inadequate to comprehend the full import of an 
eternity of advancing knowledge, can yet appreciate 
the comparative insignificance of seventy — nay of 
seventy thousand — years' investigation into the mys- 
teries of Nature, is very painful. We do not, in say- 
ing this, depreciate in the slightest degree the su- 
blime discoveries which are daily being made of the 
Almighty and his works ; — but we say, upon the 
soundest principles of philosophy, that were all these 
discoveries multiplied ten thousand times, they could 
not for a moment compete with what yet remains to 
be communicated to the successful aspirant after the 
revelations of eternity. Religion and morals are the 
only means by which success in that great competition 
can be gained ; and therefore, to a child, aknowledge of 
all that man has yet discovered, or can ever know in 
this imperfect state of existence, is really as nothing, 
in comparison with the knowledge and practice of but 
one religious truth, or with the slightest advance in 
the science of morals.- — A child once possessed of a 
living soul is born for eternity. Its happiness has 
been made to depend, not on the possession of phy- 
sical good, or of intellectual power, but entirely on 
its moral condition ; — and the physical good it re* 
ceives, and the intellectual power it attains, are no* 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 313 

thing more than means intended by the Almighty to 
be used for the purpose of perfecting his moral con- 
dition while he is still in this world. The whole 
period of his existence here, is but the moment of his 
birth for eternity. Care and enlightened attention to 
his moral condition during that short period of pro- 
bation, will usher him spiritually alive and fully pre- 
pared for enjoying an eternal weight of intelligence 
and glory; — while inattention, or misdirected acti- 
vity now, may no doubt put him prematurely in pos- 
session of a few intellectual morsels of this eternal 
feast, but it will assuredly shut him out from its 
everlasting enjoyment, and will entail on him com- 
parative ignorance, and a living death for ever. 

In this view of the case then, — and what Chris- 
tian will deny that it is the correct one, — there cannot 
be a more short-sighted proposition suggested in the 
counsels of men, than that which would sanction a 
system of education for an immortal being, that 
either overlooked, or deliberately set aside, his well- 
being in eternity. The very idea is monstrous. It 
is a deliberate levelhng of man to the rank of mere 
sentient animals ; and is another form of expressing 
the ancient advice of the sensualist, *' Let us eat and 
drink, for to-morrow we die."" By every person of 
learning, then, and even by individuals of humbler at- 
tainments, in the exercise of a plain common under- 
standing, the importance of the rule in education 
which we are here recommending, must at once be ad- 
mitted ; — That in the selection of truths and exercises 
for educating and training the young, a decided pre- 
ference should always be given to those which have a 
reference to their well-being and happiness, not in 
time so much as in eternity. 

3. In selecting subjects and exercises for the edu- 
cation of the young, those are to be preferred, by 
which the largest amount of true and solid happiness 
is to be secured to the pupil — A man's happiness is 
his only possession. Every thing else which he has? 
2 D 



314 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

is only the means which he employs for the pur- 
pose of acquiring or retaining it. Happiness accord- 
ingly, by the very constitution of our nature, is the 
great object of pursuit by every man.* The means 
of happiness are no doubt frequently mistaken, and 
often substituted for happiness itself. But even these 
conflicting circumstances, when properly considered, 
all tend to shew, that happiness is the great object 
desired, and that it is universally sought after by 
every intelligent mind. By a wise and beneficent 
arrangement of the Almighty, it has been so order- 
ed, that happiness is to be found only in the exercise 
of the affections ; — and the amount of the happiness 
which they confer, is found to be proportionate to 
the excellence of the object beloved. The love of 
God himself, accordingly, is the first of duties, and 
includes the perfection of happiness. The love of 
all that are like him, and in proportion as they are 
so, ranks next in the scale ; and hence it is, that all 
moral excellence, — the culture of the affections and the 
heart, — is to be preferred to intellectual attainments, 
as these again are to take precedence of mere physical 
good. 

This established order for the attainment of happi- 
ness, is in society most strangely inverted. Beauty, 
strength, honour, and riches, — mere physical quali- 
ties, — are generally preferred to the qualities of the 
mind ; — and mental attainments, again, too often com- 
mand more consideration than moral worth. This is 
altogether an unnatural state of things; and the con- 
vsequences of its prevalence in any community, must 
be proportionally disastrous. How far the modes for 
conducting the education of the young hitherto have 
tended to extend or perpetuate this error, it is not for 
OS here to say. But if they have, the sooner the evil 
is rectified the better. Happiness, as we have said, 
is the single aim of man, — however he may mistake 

* Note R. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 315 

its nature, or the means by which it is to be attained. 
And as it is to be found, not in intellectual power, nor 
in the possession of physical good, but only in moral 
culture, it follows, that the attainment of this moral 
excellence should be the one chief design aimed at 
in the education of the young. 

The benevolence and wisdom of this arrangement 
are obvious. For had happiness been made to de- 
pend on the possession of intellectual power, few 
comparatively could have commanded the time and 
means which are necessary for the purpose ; and had 
it been attached to the possession of riches, or honour, 
or any other species of physical good, there would 
have been still fewer. But it is not necessarily at- 
tached to the possession of either. Men may en- 
joy riches and honours, beauty and health, and yet 
they may be unhappy. The highest mental attain- 
ments also, when disjoined from moral excellence, 
tend only, as in the fallen angels, to stimulate their 
pride, and to aggravate their misery. But happi- 
ness is exclusively and unalterably attached to the 
cultivation of the affections^ — to the acquisition of 
moral excellence ; — so that it is equally within the 
reach of every individual, however obscure, or how- 
ever talented. Few men can be intellectually great, 
— fewer still can be rich or powerful ; but every man 
may, if he pleases, be good, — and therefore happy. 
In choosing the subjects and exercises then for the 
education of the young, those which tend to the pro- 
duction and to the cultivation of the moral affec- 
tions, — love to God, and love to men, — are always 
to be preferred to those which have relation merely 
to the attainment of intellectual acquirements, or the 
possession of mere physical good. 

4. In choosing subjects and exercises for the edu- 
cation of the young, reference should be had, all other 
things being equal, to the prosperity and welfare of 
the community in general. — We have already shewn 
that, under God, the happiness and welfare of everv 



316 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

individual are his own special property, and must in 
all cases, therefore, be at his special disposal. No or- 
dinary combination of circumstances will ever warrant 
an unjust encroachment on what is so peculiarly his 
own. But the happiness and welfare of an individual 
are almost uniformly found to be connected with 
the happiness and prosperity of those with whom he 
has to associate. The Educationist, therefore, ought 
to have the welfare of the community in view, while 
he is selecting those exercises which are specially to 
benefit his pupil ; and he will almost invariably find, 
that by choosing those subjects and exercises for the 
individual, which will tend most surely to promote 
the general well-being of society, he will not only not 
require a sacrifice of any of the personal benefits to 
which the child has a claim, but that he will great- 
ly increase their amount, and add to their value. 
When this is the case, to overlook the good of the 
community in selecting exercises and subjects for the 
school, would be of no advantage to the pupils, and 
would be an act of positive injustice to the public at 
large. 

These general principles, we think, when consi- 
dered singly, must approve themselves to every think- 
ing mind ; and if so, they must be still more benefi- 
cial when they are combined, and acted upon syste- 
matically in the preliminary arrangements of any se- 
minary. The nearer, therefore, the Educationist can 
keep to them in making his selection of subjects and 
exercises, the better will it be both for the pupil and 
for the community at large, while the benefits ex- 
pected from an exercise where there is any material 
deviation from them, will most probably turn out to 
be delusive, and the exercise itself detected as the 
mere bequest of an antiquated prejudice, or the tem- 
porary idol of fashion. These principles being ad- 
mitted to be sound in the abstract,^ will greatly assist 
us in deciding upon the relative value and appro- 
priateness of some of the propositions which we 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 317 

shall immediately have to submit to the reader ; and 
we would here only remark, for his guidance, that 
if, in the following recommendations, he finds an exer- 
cise correctly to accord with the above principles, while 
he yet hesitates as to the propriety of its adoption in 
the school, orfeels inclined to accede to its exclusion, — 
he ought, in such a case, carefully to review the grounds 
of his decision, as these are most likely to be erro- 
neous. He has good reason to suspect that he is la- 
bouring under prejudice, or is unduly biassed by 
long cherished opinions, when he refuses the legiti- 
mate application of a general law, — a law which he 
has previously admitted to be sound, — and which is 
as likely to be applicable to the case in hand, as to 
any other of a similar kind. 



CHAP. II. 

On the particular Branches of Education required 
for Elementary Schools. 

In making choice of suitable subjects for the edu- 
cation of a community, there are two considerations 
which ought to regulate us in our selection. The 
one is, the indications of Nature respecting any branch 
of education ; and the other is, the peculiar usages 
of the place and persons with whom the pupil is des- 
tined to associate. As an example of the former class 
of subjects, we may instance reading and writing ; 
and of the latter, book-keeping and the classics. The 
branches belonging to the former will be found more 
or less useful to all without exception ; while those 
which rank under the second class, although requisite 
for some, will be found unnecessary, and generally 
useless, to many. From the character of the present 
work, our business is chiefly with the former class ; 
and we shall therefore advert very shortly to a few 
of them, pointing out the intimations of Nature re- 
2d3 



318 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

specting them, and giving a few hints as to the best 
methods by which they may be taught. 

And first of all. Religion and Morals are clearly 
pointed out by Nature as a branch of education pe- 
culiarly necessary for the young. On this we shall 
not here again enlarge, but shall merely refer the 
reader to some of our previous pages, where it ha& 
been made sufficiently clear.* 

Next in importance as a branch of education plainly 
indicated by Nature, we ought to rank the principles 
of Natural Philosophy. We say next in importance, 
not in time ; because they are evidently not to be 
taught to the child in this order, although it will be 
found in experience that these principles may be 
communicated by successive " steps'" much sooner 
than is generally thought.-]- Nature begins early ; 
and so should we. The very infant becomes practically 
a natural philosopher, and continues to act regu- 
larly upon the truths or principles which experience 
enables him to detect. He soon learns that flame 
burns, that clothes keep his body warm, that stum- 
bling will cause a fall, and that the support of a chair 
or stool will prevent it. As he grows up he learns 
the danger of handling sharp knives, hot irons, and 
burning coals ; he learns to detect some of the effects 
of the mechanical powers, which he frequently ap- 
plies, although he cannot explain them. This we 
perceive exemplified in his ingenious contrivances in 
cutting his sticks, wrenching with forks, hammering 
with stones, kicking with his toes, and afterwards 
more powerfully with his heels ; in trundling his hoop, 
in sailing his mimic fleets by the force of his breath, 
and in adapting to the requisite moving powers his 
wind and water mills. He even learns to know some- 
thing of the composition of forces, as we perceive by 
his contrivances in the flying of his kite, the shooting of 

* See Part II. chap. x. p. 111. Part III. chap. ix= p. 257, and 
p. 310 — 313. For the methods of teaching, see Note S. 
t Note T. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATPON. 319 

his marbles, and the rebounding of his ball. Now, as 
these adaptations are never to be ranked under the 
class of instinctive actions, but have been in every 
case acquired by actual experience, it shews, that there 
is an outgoing of the mind in search of principles, 
and we think it is probable, that these principles are 
often, although perhaps but dimly perceived, from the 
various, and frequently successful contrivances of the 
child in difficulties, and in circumstances when he is 
desirous of procuring relief. This at all events shews 
us, that children are very early prepared, and capable 
of receiving instruction of this kind. 

The importance attached by Nature to this branch 
of learning, is not less remarkable, than is its universa- 
lity. It is the great hinge upon which every temporal 
comfort of the individual is made to turn. What 
we have here termed " natural philosophy," is to 
the body and to time, what religion and morals are 
to the soul and eternity ; — the well-being of both de- 
pends almost entirely upon the proper application of 
their several principles. It is no doubt true, that the 
principles are not always very clearly perceived ; but 
it is equally true, that the application of these prin- 
ciples will be more easy, more frequent, and much 
more effective, when they are made familiar by teach- 
ing. Hence the importance of this branch of educa- 
tion for the young. 

Next in importance as branches of education, and 
prior perhaps in point of time, come the arts of Read- 
ing and Writing. — Speech is a valuable gift of Na- 
ture, bestowed upon us for the communication of our 
ideas, and writing is nothing more than a successful 
imitation of Nature in doing so. The hearing of 
speech, in like manner, is closely copied in the art of 
reading. These two arts, therefore, as most success- 
ful imitations of Nature, recommend themselves at 
once to the notice of the teacher as an important 
branch of education for the young. The one enabling 
him to speak with the hand, and to communicate his 



320 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

ideas to his friend from any distance ; and the other, 
the art of hearing by the eye, and by which he can 
make the good and the wise speak to him as often 
and as long as he may feel inclined.* 

Of Arithmetic, we may only remark, that the neces- 
sity of sometimes ascertaining the number of objects, 
of adding to their number, and at other times of sub- 
tracting from them, indicates sufficiently that this is 
a branch of education recommended by Nature. It 
may only be necessary here to remark, that, from 
various concurring circumstances, it appears, that 
what is called the Denary Scale is that which is most 
conducive to general utility. As to the nature of 
Arithmetic, and the best methods of teaching it, we 
must refer to the Note.-j- 

Music is one of Nature's best gifts. The love of 
it is almost universal ; and few comparatively are 
unable to relish and practise it. Its effect in elevat- 
ing and refining the sentiments in civilized society, 
is matter of daily observation; and its power to 
" soothe the savage breast,^' has been often verified. 
To neglect the cultivation of music, therefore, during 
childhood and youth, when it can be best done, not 
only without interference with other branches of 
study, but with decided advantage in forwarding 
them, is both imprudent and unjust. We say that it 
is unjust ; — for while much ingenuity and large sums 
of money have been expended in producing musical 
instruments for the gratification of men, the child of 
the poorest beggar is in possession of an instrument 
in the human voice, which for sweetness, variety, ex- 
pression, and above all, for its adaptation to language, 
has never been equalled, and stands quite unapproach- 
able by all the contrivances of man. How cruel then 
in parents or teachers to allow an instrument so noble 
and so valuable to fall to ruin from the want of exer- 
cise ! It is to deprive their pupil of a constant solace 

* Note U. t Note V. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 321 

in affliction, and to dry up one of the cheapest, the 
readiest, and the most innocent and elevating sources 
both of personal and social enjoyment. Of its uses, 
and methods of teaching in the school, we must again 
refer to the Notes.* 

Dancing is obviously the sister of music, and is 
perhaps equally sanctioned by Nature. It is obvi- 
ously capable of being consecrated and employed for 
high moral purposes ; and its abuse therefore should 
form no argument against its regular cultivation. 
That it was so employed by the appointment of God 
himself, is matter of history ; and that it is still 
capable of being preserved from abuse, cannot reason- 
ably be denied. The stand that has so frequently 
been made against even the innocent enjoyment of 
this boon of Nature, is now admitted to be a preju- 
dice, derived originally from its flagrant and frequent 
abuse. These prejudices are gradually and silently 
melting away ; and it is cheering to see the better 
feelings of our nature effectively advancing the art to 
its legitimate place in education, under the guise of 
gymnastics and callisthenics. That these, however, 
are but imperfect substitutes for what Nature has 
intended for the youngs is obvious, when we contrast 
them with the gambols of the kitten, the friskings of 
the lamb, and the unrestrained romps of healthy 
children newly let loose from the school. The truth 
is, that the accumulation of the animal spirits must 
be thrown off by exercise, whether the parent or teach- 
er wills it or no ; and if the children are not taught 
to do this hy rule-) as in dancing, they will do it 
without rule, and perhaps beyond the proper limit, 
both as to time, place, and quantity. Education 
indeed cannot be expected to flourish to the extent 
desired, till the mental labours of the school can be 
occasionally relieved by some physical exercise, either 
within doors, or in the open air.-|- 

* Note \V. t Note A a. 



322 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

The love of pictures and of Drawing is also a boon 
bestowed upon us by Nature, and is a desirable ac- 
quisition for the young. The art may generally be 
acquired with little trouble, and often with great 
enjoyment- It is certainly neither so necessary, nor 
so valuable, as some of the branches of which we 
have been speaking ; but as it may be easily attained, 
and as its future exercise will always be a source of 
innocent and refined enjoyment, it ought to occupy a 
place in every educational institution. Almost every 
person is gratified by looking upon a good picture ; 
and few comparatively are unable to acquire the 
rudiments of the art which produces them. It re- 
quires but little teaching, provided good copies be 
procured ;— and even these will be frequently unne- 
cessary, where the pupils are encouraged to copy 
from Nature. The proper methods of doing this, 
however, must be left to the circumstances of the 
school, and to future experiments. 

With respect to the teaching of History, a little 
consideration will convince us, that it does not con- 
sist in the mere communication of historical facts. 
History is, or ought to be, a science ; and the succes- 
sion of events is nothing more than the implements 
employed by the master in teaching it. The facts 
of history, like those of chemistry, agriculture, or 
mechanics, are taught merely as means to an end.— 
They are the elements from which we derive princi- 
ples, which are to be practically applied by the learner ; 
and it is the ability to apply these that constitutes the 
learning. The facts upon which any science is based, 
must no doubt be known before it can be taught ; — 
but they may be known without the science having 
ever been mastered : For it is not a knowledge of 
the facts, but the capacity to make use of them, that 
entitles a man to the appellation of a chemist, an 
agriculturist, a mechanic, or a historian. 

Viewing the study of history in this light, we at 
once perceive, that the teaching which it requires is 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 323 

not a dry detail of dates and circumstances ; — but 
the practical uses which ought to be made of them. 
The only legitimate use of history is to direct us 
how we ought to conduct ourselves as citizens, and 
how rulers and governors can most safely and suc- 
cessfully manage the affairs of the pubHc, in all the 
varying events of political change. The teacher 
therefore is to communicate the facts, for the purpose 
of turning them to use, by drawing, and teach- 
ing his pupils how to draw lessons of prudence, ener- 
gy, or caution, as regards the nation ; — in the same 
way that Biography is taught for the sake of draw- 
ing lessons of a more personal kind, as regards a 
family or a neighbourhood. Both were practically 
exhibited in the experiment in Aberdeen ; by which 
it was made obvious, that children, as well as adults, 
were capable of studying it. Where the circum- 
stances of a seminary will admit, it ought not to be 
neglected. The mere inconveniences which may for 
some time attend the introduction of such a mode of 
teaching history is no good reason for its neglect ; 
and the want of practical elementary books drawn 
up upon this plan, in the form of successive '' Steps,'' 
is the chief desideratum, which we hope soon to see 
supplied. 

Geography is another branch of education pointed 
out to us by Nature for the benefit of man. We speak 
here, however, of physical geography, and not of the 
historical and political departments of it. These be- 
long more properly to history. The chief object in 
teaching this science, is to convey to the mind of the 
pupil a correct idea of this world as a sphere, on the 
top of which he stands, and of the relative positions of 
all the kingdoms and countries on its surface. This 
will be, and it ought to be, a work of time. The 
more correctly and familiarly the pupil can form the 
idea of this sphere as a whole, the sooner and the 
better will he become acquainted with its parts. 
Acting upon the principles of reiteration and analysis. 



324 PRACTICAL ENaUIRY INTO 

formerly described, the pupil ought to sketch, how- 
ever rudely, the great outlines of the four divisions 
of the earth, upon a blank, or slate globe, till he can 
do so with some degree of correctness. The se- 
parated divisions may then be sketched on a common 
slate, without caring as yet for the details ; and when 
this can be accomplished readily, the same thing may 
be done with the different kingdoms of which they 
are severally composed. The child ought never to 
be harassed by the minute details, till he comes to 
sketch the countries, or the counties. What is re- 
quired before this, is their relative position, more than 
their form ; and this, upon the principle of analysis, 
will be easiest and most permanently acquired by 
mastering in the first place the great outlines. 

Children, by mere imitation, will practically ac- 
quire the art of Grammar, long before they are capa- 
ble of learning it as a science. It ought invariably to 
be taught by " Steps ;" and the child should have a 
perfect knowledge of the etymological part, before 
he is allowed to advance to syntax. The efficiency 
of this concluding part of grammar, depends entirely 
upon his familiarity with the former. It will there- 
fore be found here, as in the practice of arithmetic, 
that the prize will ultimately be awarded, not to 
him who expends most labour and strength in run- 
ning, but to him who has made the best preparation 
for the race. 

The art of Composition, or the ability to express 
our thoughts in an orderly and natural form, is the 
last branch of education to which, as recommended by 
Nature, we shall here allude. The perfection of this 
art appears to depend on three circumstances. There 
must be a clear understanding of the subject upon 
which the person is to write ; — there must, in the 
second place, be a distinct perception of the most 
natural order in which it ought to be presented to 
the mind and imagination of others ; — and the third 
is, an ability to manage these materials with facility, 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 325 

and without distraction of mind, while engaged in 
writing them. As to the first of these three, nothing 
requires to be said here, as the exercises recommend- 
ed in the previous part of this Treatise will almost 
invariably accomplish it. With respect to the second, 
that of presenting the ideas connected with the sub- 
ject in due and proper order, it may be remarked, 
that the hints formerly given, as to the natural order 
of " grouping ' objects to be presented to the imagi- 
nation, will be of great use here, and to them we 
must refer ;* — and the third object here required, that 
of managing the thoughts at the moment of writing 
them, has been in effect already described and treated 
of, in a previous part of this Treatise. -(- It is the 
same kind of ability as that which is required for 
acquiring fluency and ease in extemporaneous speak- 
ing, and is to be gained by the use of the same 
means. It is here only necessary to observe, that 
abstract teaching and general directions are not the 
things most required for forwarding a child in 'this 
branch of his education. These, at an advanced stage 
of his learning, will no doubt be of service ; but till 
the pupil can write with some degree of freedom, 
they are in a great measure useless, or worse. What 
is wanted most in our elementary schools, is a suc- 
cessful beginning; — suitable exercises to assist the 
pupil in writing his own thoughts properly, but in 
his own way. Many methods have been devised to 
eifect this, and with more or less success; — but we 
believe the most efficient, because the most natural 
and simple, is that which has been engrafted upon 
the paraphrastic exercise. In regard to its ease, it 
is only necessary to say, that a child who can but 
write a sentence, may begin to practise it ; — and its ef- 
ficiency may be argued from the fact, that while every 



See pages 215, 216. f See pages 297, &c 

2k 



326 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

step is progressive, the advanced exercises give ample 
scope for the abilities of the cleverest in the school.* 



CHAP III. 

On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Princi- 
ciples, for the first time, into Schools already 
established. 

That the educational principles attempted to be 
developed in the preceding pages, shall ultimately 
pervade the great fields of Elementary learning, ad- 
mits we think of but little doubt ; and yet the dimi- 
nutive word '' When ?" in relation to this change, 
forms a question, which it would be extremely difficult 
to answer. Every improvement of the kind hitherto 
has been gradual ; and experience shews, that the 
admission of the most important principles in Science, 
has been often retarded, rather than forwarded, by 
undue precipitation on the part of their friends. It 
is with this historical fact in view that the following 
hints are now offered, in order to render any sudden 
change unnecessary, and to enable teachers gradually 
to feel their way to greater success by new me- 
thods, without making any material change for some 
time on the old. We speak advisedly when we say, 
that two half hours daily, if regularly and honestly 
employed in working out these principles in a school, 
will do more real good in forwarding the education 
of the pupils attending it, than all the rest of the day 
put together. This portion of time, divided between 
the two parts of the day, would not materially inter- 
fere with the usual routine of any seminary, which 
might still be proceeded with as before, till the teacher 
saw his way more clearly in enlarging the exercises, 
and extending the time. 

* See Key to Second Initiatory Catechism, pages xxi. & xxii. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 327 

Younger Classes. — With respect to the young 
children who are as yet incapable of understanding 
by reading, we would advise that they be repeatedly 
exercised by a monitor in sections of four or five, during 
not more than ten or fifteen minutes at a time, by means 
of the " Scripture Groupings for children."" The Key 
to that httle book will enable any monitor, or even 
scholar, who can read, efficiently to perform this duty. 
The design here is chiefly mental exercise ; but with 
that mental exercise, the most important and valuable 
information may be communicated. The monitor is 
to announce a sentence, and then to catechise on it, 
taking care to avoid all " Catechetical Wanderings,"* 
and confining himself strictly to the sentence announ- 
ced, from which the child in that case will always be 
able to bring his answer. 

When a section has been mastered, the children 
may be encouraged to tell the story in their own way, 
the monitor taking care that the child is not reiterat- 
ing the words, instead of the ideas. A few of the 
moral circumstances may also be presented to their 
minds, and the lessons drawn and applied according 
to their capacity. 

Second Classes. — Where the children are capable 
of reading, they may get a section of the " Group- 
ings," or of any of the " First Steps," to read at 
home. On this they ought to be catechised in school, 
before reading it there, to see whether it has been 
previously read and understood or not. This pre- 
paration ought to be strictly enforced. They may 
then read it by sentences in turn, be catechised upon 
it, have the moral circumstances separated, and the 
lessons drawn and applied. One section eviould in 
general be thoroughly known and mastered^ before 
passing to another; and all the previous sections 
should be frequently and extensively revised, chiefly 
by the application of their several lessons. 

* See Complete Directory for Sunday School Teachers, vol. i. p. 278. 



328 PRACTICAL ENQUIRY INTO 

Higher Classes. — The whole school, with the ex- 
ception perhaps of the very young classes, may be 
taken together, and catechised on some section of one 
of the Steps, or on a passage of Scripture previously 
prescribed. This they ought each to read and under- 
stand at home, and be prepared to paraphrase it, to 
separate the moral circumstances, and to draw the cor- 
responding lessons.* This will in a short time be easy 
for them ; and to ensure the preparation, the name 
of each pupil ought to be kept on a separate card, 
and these being shuffled, the teacher, after asking the 
question at the whole, may take the upmost card, and 
require that child to answer it. All must in that 
case be prepared, as none can know but he may be 
the person who shall be called on publicly to answer. 
The application of the lessons will be found the most 
useful, and to the children the most interesting part 
of this exercise. In this the teacher supposes a cir- 
cumstance, or situation, corresponding to the lesson 
drawn, in which the pupils may be placed ; and he 
requires them to say how they ought to act in such a 
case. When they give their opinion, they must then 
give their authority ; that is, they must refer to the 
lesson, and through the lesson, to the Scripture truth 
from which it was drawn. 

Natural Philosophy. — In teaching the principles of 
Natural Philosophy, a select class may be formed, 
more circumscribed as to number, and from among 
the more advanced scholars. To these, a section, or 
part of section, of the " First Step to Natural Phi- 
losophy," is to be given to prepare at home, — 1& 
understand, and to be ready to draw and apply the 
lessons, — in a manner similar to that prescribed above, 
and as illustrated in the Key to that work. 



* For these exercises the Teacher or monitor will find himself 
greatly assisted by means of the ••' Helps" to Genesis, Luke, Acts, 
(&c. where, besides the lessons, all the explanations are given in th© 
form of a paraphrase. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION. 329 

Writing. — In teaching the art of Writing, upon 
the preceding principles, the chief object is to train 
the pupils easily and readily to write down their own 
thoughts. To accomplish this, a certain portion of 
their time may be occupied as follows. The teacher 
reads a sentence, or a paragraph? or, what will per- 
haps be better, a short story, or anecdote, and re- 
quires the whole of them to write it down in their 
hooks for after examination. These of course are to 
be examined and corrected, with any necessary re- 
marks by the teacher or assistant. — In this exercise, 
there is no necessity for circumscribing the pupils as 
to time, — it being required that they write accurately, 
grammatically, and neatly, whether in large or small 
text. To all those who are first finished, some other 
exercise ought to be provided that they may in that 
manner usefully occupy the time that may remain of 
their hour. 

Arithmetic. — The introduction of the Arithmetic 
Rod, and its Key, into a school, will be productive of 
many advantages.* The line of figures upon the A 
side of the Rod, being painted on a board in sight of 
the whole school, and which is never required to be 
altered, the teacher has only to announce a sum to 
be added to each of the figures ; the first pupil that 
is done, deposits his slate on a table, stool, or form, 
and goes to his place ; the next places his slate above 
his, and the others in the same way as they finish. The 
answer in the Key will shew their accuracy, and the or- 
der in which their slates lie points out their respective 
merits. Another very important object is gained by 
this exercise ; for the teacher, by recording the time 
taken by any one of the pupils in adding a particular 
sum to the line, can measure by the watch the rate 
of his improvement every month, every week, or even 
every day. The parents of any child, by means of the 

» See Note V. 
2e3 



330 PllACTICAL ENQUIKY, &C. 

Kod and its Key, can also do this at home with per- 
fect exactness. 

These hints for the regulation of teachers are thrown 
out with great deference, as they have not been suf- 
ficiently tested by actual experiments. Teachers, 
however? will be able, each for himself, according 
to the circumstances of his school, and the capacities 
of his children, to adopt such parts as he finds most 
effective ; and so to modify others, that the end shall 
perhaps be more efficiently gained, than by strictly 
adhering to any one of them.- — Education in all its 
parts is yet in its infancy; and these crude hints can 
only be expected to help it forward to maturity. 



THE EN.D'> 



NOTES 



Note A, pages 45 and 55. — It may perhaps be reasonably ob- 
jected to this term of " Reiteration," that it is a new term for an 
act of the mind which has already received another name. The 
Author's excuse is twofold. In the first place, he thinks, that any 
other term which he could have employed, might have been misun- 
derstood, as writers are not as yet at one on the subject. But, se- 
condly, no other term would have included so fully all that he 
intends to designate by the act of " Reiteration." In this he may 
be mistaken ; but as it is of little consequence by what name an 
object may be called, provided the thing so named be properly de- 
fined, he thought it safest to apply the term he best understood, and 
which, in his opinion, most correctly describes the act itself. 

The same thing may be said of the terms, " Individuation," 
" Grouping," and " Classification," which may perhaps be nothing 
more than " Abstraction," " Combination," and " Generalization."" 
His misconception of those latter terms, and of what is included in 
them, may have led him to think that the mental operations which 
he has perceived in the young are different. If so, there can be 
little harm in using the terms here adopted ; but if, on the con- 
trary, they do really include more, it would have been hurtful to 
use a term which had been previously defined, and which did not 
include the whole that was intended. 

Note B, p. 5G — It may be a question, but one certainly of 
little practical consequence, whether we ought to place the princi- 
ple of " Individuation," or this of " Reiteration," first in order. 
The child, no doubt, fixes upon the individual object before he can 
reiterate it ; but it is still this act of reiteration that first impresses 
the idea on the mind, and constitutes it a part of his knowledge. 

Note C, p. 58 — It may be proper here to explain once for 
all, that it is not the intention of the Author, as indeed he has not 
the ability, to define scientifically the mental processes which he 
thinks he has observed in the young. His object is simply to point 
them out, so that they may be successfully imitated by the teacher 
in the exercises of the school. 

Note D, p. 60 — The fact, that children who learn to repeat words 
without understanding them, do sometimes acquire the meaning of 
them afterwards, is no valid objection to the accuracy of this state- 
ment. Repeated experiments, in various forms, and with difi^erent 
persons, have established the important fact, that when children at 
any future period master the ideas contained in the words which 
they had previously committed to memory, it is not because of that 
exercise, but in spite of it. They have attained them by another, 
and a perfectly different process. It is generally by reading the 
words from the memory, — thinking them over, — and in that way 



332 NOTES. 

searching for, and reiterating the ideas they contain. This is much 
more difficult than when the person reads for the first time the 
same words from a book ; and it has this serious disadvantage, that 
it has to be read from the memory every time the ideas are requir- 
ed, Avhich is not the case when the ideas are reiterated in the natu- 
ral way by hearing, or by reading — On this subject see the Ex- 
periment made before the Clergy and Teachers of Stirling, in 
.July 1833, with "Blind Alick" of that place, who could repeat 
the whole Bible ; — and the Supplementary Experiment to ascertain 
the same principle, made in the House of Correction in Belfast, 
before the Teachers and Clergymen of that town, in December 1 837. 

Note E, p. 83 — Perhaps it may be found, that " Grouping," 
and " Classification," are only different manifestations of the same 
principle. But even if it were so, it would have been necessary 
here to treat of them separately, on account of the very different 
uses made of them by Nature. The present, be it observed, is not 
a metaphysical treatise, but a humble attempt to be popularly use- 
ful See Note C. 

Note F, p. 105.— This principle may by some be considered as 
" instinct," and others may affirm that it is " reason." All that 
we require to do here is to point out the phenomenon, — not to de- 
fine it. The name is of little consequence. It is the principle itself, 
as perceived in its manifestations, that we have to do with, for the 
purpose of successfully imitating it in our dealings with the young. 

Note G, p. 132 — There needs scarcely any farther proof of 
this than the fact, that barristers, by constant practice, are usually 
the most fluent extemporaneous speakers. It is also strongly cor- 
roborative of the statement in the text, that clergymen generally, 
and especially those who are most accustomed to the use of extem- 
poraneous prayers and sermons, find most ease in replying to an 
opponent on any subject that is familiar to them. 

' Note H, p. 160, & 201 It is a very remarkable fact, to which 

the attention of the writer was lately called, that Mrs Wesley, the 
mother of the Rev. John Wesley, founder of the Wesleyan Metho- 
dists, appears to have acted upon the principles here developed. In 
Southey's Life of that great man, there occurs the following Note : 
" Mrs Wesley thus describes her peculiar method (of teaching 
her children to read,) in a letter to her son John, (the founder of 
the Wesleyan Methodists.) 

" None of them were taught to read 'till five years old, except 
Kezzy, in whose easel was overruled ; and she was more years in learn- 
ing than any of the rest had been months. The way of teaching was 
this : The day before a child began to learn, the house was set in or- 
der, every one's work appointed them, and a charge given that none 
should come into the room from nine till twelve, or from two till 
five, which were our school hours. One day was allowed the child 
wherein to learn its letters, and each of them did in that time know 



NOTES. 333 

all its letters, great and small, except Molly and Nancy, who were 
a day and a half before they knew tliera perfectly, for which 1 then 
thought them very dull ; but the reasoii why I thought them so, 
was because the rest learned them so readily ; and your brother 
Samuel, who was the first child I ever taught, learnt the alphabet 
in a few hours. He was five years old the 10th of February; the 
next day he began to learn ; and as soon as he knew the letters, be- 
gan at the 1st chapter of Genesis. He was taught to spell the 1st 
verse, then to read it over and over till he could read it oft" hand 
without any hesitation ; — so on to the second, &c. till he took ten 
verses to a lesson, which he quickly did. Easter fell low that year, 
and by Whitsuntide he could read a chapter very well ; for he read 
continually, and had such a prodigious memory, that I cannot re- 
member ever to have told him the same word twice. What was 
yet stranger, any word he had learnt in his lesson, he knew where- 
ever he saw it, either in his Bible or any other book, by which 
means he learnt very soon to read an English author well. 

" The same method was observed with them all. As soon as 
they knew the letters, they were first put to spell and read one 
line, then a verse, never leaving till perfect in their lesson, were it 
shorter or longer. So one or other continued reading at school, 
time about, without any intermission; and before we left school, each 
child read what he had learned that morning, and ere we parted in 
the afternoon, what he had learned that day." — Souihey's Life of 
Wesley, Note, p. 429. 

In the above simple narrative, there is a distinct reference to the 
principles of " Reiteration," and " Individuation," and hence Mrs 
Wesley's great success. 

Note I, p. 1G2 — When the true nature of Education is better 
understood, it will be found that a child may have advanced far on 
its path by oral instruction, belore it be either necessary or desire- 
able that he should be compelled to read for himself. To assist the 
parent and teacher in this preliminary part of their duty, the " First 
Initiatory Catechism," or the " First Steps" to the Old and the 
New Testaments, with their respective Keys, may be used with 
advantage, — they having been constructed upon the principles here 
recommended. But the best Book to begin with, will be the 
" Groupings from Scripture," with its Key for the use of monitors, 
or older children, who can by its means greatly assist the parent or 
teacher in the work. In making use of that little book, the sen- 
tences are to he announced in whole or in parts to the pupils one 
by one; and upon which they are to be tlioroughly and extensively 
catechised. As for example, the first announcement may be given 
thus : — " God made the first man,'''' from which the following ques- 
tions may be formed " Who made the first man ?" " Whom did 

God make ?" " What man did God make ? " What did God do 
to the first man ?" The teacher or monitor ought then to add the 
additional fact, " that God made the first man of clay,'''' and cate- 
chise again upon the whole. After this is well understood, he may 
complete the sentence, " God made the first man of clay, and called 
him Adam.'^ The child will then be able — not to repeat the words 



334 NOTES. 

only, for that is not the effect of this exercise, — but to communicate 
the ideas in his own words ; which, however, will generally be found 
to be the very same as in the book. This distinction is most im- 
portant. When the whole seation has been completely mastered, the 
lessons and their applications may also be taught ; — by all of which 
the mental faculties will soon become vigorous and lively, and the 
pupil will be well prepared for all the exercises to which he may 
afterwards be called. 

Note K, p. 151 — The art of catechising from any lesson or 
book, is a very simple one when the principle is understood. It 
consists simply in selecting the most important words contained in 
the announcement, and forming a question upon each of them, in 
such a manner, as to require that particular word from the pupil 
as the answer to the question raised upon it. For example, when 
the teacher has in four words announced the fact, that " Jesus 
died for sinners ;" he will be able to form a question from the 
three chief ones, " Jesus," — " died," and " sinners." These 
questions will be, " Who died ? — " What did Jesus do for sin- 
ners ?" and •■' For whom did Jesus die ?" It is not necessary that 
the words should be taken up in their order, which may be always 
left to the discretion of the teacher. For the several parts of this 
principle, as employed upon clauses, or whole sentences or subjects, 
see next Note L. 

Note L, p. 185 The Catechetical Exercise has for convenience 

been divided into three kinds of exercises, called the " Connecting 
Exercise," the " General Exercise," and the " Verbal Exercise." 
The " Connecting Exercise," includes those comprehensive ques- 
tions, which require the pupil to go over perhaps a whole subject, 
or several sentences, to complete his answer ; as if in teaching the 
Parable of the Sower, the pupil were asked, *' What were the 
several kinds of ground on which the seed was sown ?" or, " What 
is said of the seed sown by the way side ?" In answering either 
of these questions he Avould have to combine many ideas, and the 
truths contained in several distinct clauses. This exercise is used 
commonly in revising several sections at a time after they have 
been taught. 

The " General Exercise," is used in all the advanced classes, 
sometimes in connection with the Verbal Exercise, and includes 
those questions chiefly which are formed upon clauses in the book 
or section taught. As, for example, when the pupil is asked, 
*' What became of the seed sown by the way side ?" or, " What 
did the birds of the air do ?" he has to give one or more clauses, 
containing several ideas, as his answer. 

" The " Verbal Exercise" has to do only with the words of the 
clauses, and the single idea which the particular word is intended 
to convey; as when it is said, " the birds of the air devoured it 
up ;" the questions, " What devoured the seed ?" " What birds ?" 
" What did the birds do ?" " What did the birds devour ?" refer 
chiefly to the words, and the single ideas which they communicate 

It may be here remarked, however, that although these exer- 



NOTES. 66b 

cises are divided in theory, they ought seldom to be altogether 
separated in practice. In using the Verbal Exercise with the 
younger classes, many questions will be required which properly 
belong to the " General ;" and in using the '• General Exercise" 
with the advanced classes, neither the " Connecting,'* nor the 
*' Verbal Exercise," ought to be altogether excluded. 

Note M, p. 192 — In communicating knowledge to the young 
by means of the Catechetical Exercise, care ought to be taken that 
the truths or ideas be communicated regularly, and not too many at 
a time. In making use of the " Groupings," or "First Steps," the 
contents of one section ought to be well understood, and all the 
circumstances to be made familiar, before the child passes to 
another. To do otherwise is not to forward, but to retard his ad- 
vance in the attainment of knowledge. There ought also to be 
frequent returns upon the sections formerly mastered, so that the 
truths be more and more firmly fixed upon the memory. This will 
also be accomplished by means of the lessons from the several moral 
truths taught, and by their application to the circumstances of or- 
dinary life. 

It is also a matter of great practical importance, in teaching any 
subject, that the teacher confine himself strictly to it, avoiding all 
kinds of " Catechetical Wandering," by which the minds of his 
pupils will be distracted and enfeebled if they cannot follow him, 
and by which their attention will be powerfully drawn away from 
the lesson, if they can. — For example, if the subject to be taught be 
the " Good Samaritan," nothing can be plainer than that the mind 
of the pupil ought to be concentrated upon the subject, till it be 
" grouped," and fixed upon the mind and memory as one com- 
bined and moving scene, so that one circumstance in the story 

will conjure up all the others This is Nature's plan. — But if the 

teacher, at the very commencement, when the child has read that 
*' a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho," shall call 
his attention from the story itself, to ask where Jerusalem was ? 
What was Judea ? Who dwelt there ? M'^ho was their progenitor ? 
From what bondage were they saved ? Who conducted them through 
the wilderness? Who brought them into Judea? requiring the 
whole history of the Jews, their captivity, and restoration ; the 
effect is most pernicious, and is fatal to the great design intended 
by the teacher. It is destructive of that habit of concentration of 
mind upon a particular subject, which is always the accompani- 
ment of genius ; and which ought to be cultivated in the young 
with the greatest assiduity and care. But this habit of " Cate- 
chetical Wandering," does not stop here, for the teacher has yet 
another word in this first sentence which admits of a similar treat- 
ment ; and instead of returning to the lesson, he takes up the word 
" Jericho," by means of which he follows a similar course ; " riding 
off" from the original subject, and leaving the child bewildered 
and confused, to commence again, to be again interrupted and dis- 
tracted by other irrelevant questions. Many evils result from 
this practice ; and the cause is obvious. For if the child has 
been taught these irrelevant truths before, this is obviously not the 



336 NOTES. 

time to introduce them, when he is in the very act of learning a 
new subject ,•— and if he has not been taught them previously, the 
matter becomes worse ; for by this attempt to teach a variety 
of new things at the same time, some important principles of Na- 
ture are still more violently outraged. — After the subject has been 
taught, and the child is called on to revise his several lessons, then 
is the time to combine them, and to point out their various connec- 
tions, — but not before. 

Note N, p. 195 It will always be found advisable to teach the 

alphabet to children long before they begin to read ; and while 
they are being verbally exercised on the " Groupings from Scrip- 
ture," and other books of a similar kind. T0 do so at home by 
way of games, will be found easiest for the parent, and most 
pleasant for the child. By having the small letters on four dice, 
(six on each,) and allowing the use of only one till the six letters on 
its sides are familiar ; — and not giving the third, till those on the 
two first have been mastered ; and the same with the fourth, — will 
be found useful, provided they be only occasionally made use of. 
A too frequent repetition of the game will destroy its effect ; and 
therefore, as there is sufficient time, it ought only to be allowed on 
proper, and perhaps on great occasions. Other contrivances, besides 
those given in the text, such as making the child guess at letters, 
drawing letters from a bag, and naming them, &c. will readily occur 
to ingenious parents or teachers. It should be observed, that as this 
acquirement is needed but once in the child's lifetime, a little pains 
or trouble ought not to be grudged in forwai'ding it. 

Note O, p. 208 — In using the " First Class Book on the 
Lesson System," the teacher must take care that the letters and 
their sounds, or powers, be perfectly familiar to the child before he 
fcegins to read. The first lesson, of course, is composed altogether 
of words new to the child, each of which he must be taught to read 
by combining the powers of the letters composing it ;— -and he must 
never be allowed to pass on to the following word, till all the pre- 
vious ones can be correctly and readily decyphered. Before begin- 
ning to the second, or succeeding lessons, the new words occurring 
in it, (which are prefixed,) must be read and made familiar to him 
one by one, and explained if necessary. By this means he will soon 
be able to pick up the ideas in his lesson by even a first reading, 

which is the great end that the teacher ought to have in view The 

capital letters need not be taught till the child comes to them in 
his reading. — The lessons being consecutive, none must be omitted. 

Note P, p. 220 — The nature of successive " Steps" will be better 
understood by using, than by describing them. The following, 
however, will give some idea of their design; keeping in mind, that 
the contents of the several branches must be written out in such a 
martner as to convey the ideas in the common way. The following 
is a rude sketch of what the History of Joseph would be like, if the 
ideas under each branch of the analysis were fairly written out as 
First, Second, and Third Steps. 



337 

ANALYTICAL TABLE, 

SHEWING THE NATURE OF SUCCESSIVE STEPS IN EDUCATION. 



Joseph 
was be- 
loved 
by his 
father, 
and 
hated 
by his 
broth- 



And al- 
though 
he was 
long in 
afflic- 
tion. 



He rose 
at last 
to great - 
prosper- 
ity. 



Snbscance of a 

.Second Step. 



Joseph's father f 
was partial toj 
him. i 

And he dream- | 
ed that he was 
to be great. 

These things f 
made the fa- 1 
mily uneasy. >■ 



Joseph was } 
cruelly used by "I 
his brothers, 



And was made ! 
a slave toPoti-l 
phar •, I 

Who unjustly j 
cast him into] 
prison. 



Hewas brought 
outtoPharoah, 



And made rul- i 
er over all E-"j 

gypt ; I 



Substance of a Third Step. 



Jacob loved Joseph best of his family ; who 
Brought him the evil reports of them ; and got a 
Coat of many colours. 

Joseph told his dream of the sheaves, 
And his brothers hated him the more. 
He told his dream of the sun and stars ; and 
His father observed the saying. 

His brotherswould not speak peaceably to him;. 
And envied and hated him ; and 
His father expostulated with him. 

Joseph sought his brothers at Dothan ; 
Was cast into a pit, and afterwards 
Sold for a slave. 

His brothers concealed the crime, and 
His father mourned for him as dead. 

Joseph was carried to Egypt, and 
Was a slave in Potiphar's house ; 
Wliere he was industrious and faithful ; 
And was tempted by his mistress. 

Joseph was unjustly put into confinement. 
He was useful in prison, where 
A butler and baker were confined. 
Joseph interpreted their dreams ; but was 
Left in prison by the butler forgetting him. 

Pharoah was displeased with the magicians. 
The butler told him of Joseph ; 
And Joseph interpreted his dreams, 
And was advanced to authority. 

Joseph married and was made next to Pharoah, 
He collected corn for seven years ; 
Distributed it to all nations ; 
And sold it for tlie cattle and lands of Egypt. 



( Joseph's brothers came to Ecrypt for food ; 
During which | And he spake rougiily to them. 



time he behav- I 
with great j 
prudence to his i 
brothers : I 



And kindly 
took care of the 
whole family. 



He detained Simeon ; 

Brought and entertained Benjamin •, 

And hid his cup in Benjamin's sack. 

He then made himself known to his brothers, 

Joseph brought his father and family to Egypt. 
He settled, supported, and honoured them. 
He buried his father. 
And left several charges with his brothers. 



338 NOTES. 

Note Q, p. 225. — In giving' a specimen of this mode of illustrat* 
ing a connected subject, we may only premise, that the method, as 
a branch of Education, requires that all the general heads should 
be perceived first, before any of them is sub-divided. For example, 
Paul's sermon at Antioch, (Acts xiii.) must be perceived by the 
pupil in its great outline, or general heads, before he be called on to 
separate these into their several particulars. These heads as given 
in the Analysis, (Help to Acts, vol. 1. p. 187,) are to the following 
purport : 

" The design of Paul in this discourse appears to be, 

I. To conciliate the Jews. 

II. To prove that the Messiah had already come, and that Jesus 

was that Messiah. 

III. To remove certain objections against Jesus being the 

Messiah. 

IV. To establish the claims of Jesus as the Messiah ; and, 

V. To press his salvation upon their notice and acceptance." 

When these general divisions, or heads, are understood, either 
by reading the respective verses which they occupy, or by the oral 
illustration of the teacher, each of them may then be taken sepa- 
rately, and sub-divided into its parts. For example, the first head, 
which in the analysis is, " Firsts Paul endeavours to conciliate 
the Jews by giving a brief outline of their history, till the days of 
David, to whom the 3Iessiah was specially promised," ver. 17 — 23. 
This first of the above five heads, is separable into the follow- 
ing particulars. " 1. The condition of the Jews in, and their de- 
liverance from, Egypt; — 2. Their history in the wilderness; — 
3. The destruction of their enemies, and their settlement in 
Canaan ; — 4. Of the Judges till the time of Samuel ; — 5. The 
origin of the kingly authority in Israel ; — and 6. The history of 
their two first kings." These again may be sub-divided into their 
several parts, of which the last will form a good example. It ap- 
pears in the Analysis in the following form 5 

VI. History of their two first kings. 

i. Of Saul, and the time of his reign, ver. 21. 
ii. Of David, and his character. 

1. Saul was removed to make room for David, ver. 22. 

2. David was chosen by God to be their king, ver. 22. 

3. An account of David's character, and God's dealing with 

him. 
[1.] God's testimony concerning David. 

(1.) What David was, ver. 22. 

(2.) What David was to do, ver. 22. 
[2.] God's promise to David. 

(1.) A Saviour was to be raised up for Israel, ver. 23. 

(2.) This Saviour was to be of David's seed, ver. 23. 

Note R, p. 314 — There is not perhaps a subject in the whole 
range of human investigation that is so much misunderstood in 



NOTES. 339 

practice, as a person's own happiness. Whatever causes uneasiness, 
or distress, or anxiety of mind, destroys happiness ; — which shews 
that it is this pleasure, or delight itself, — this exercise of the heart, 
that we are seeking, and not the money, or the applause, or the 
sensual indulgences, which sometimes procure it. The heart of 
man has heen made for something higher and more noble than 
these grovelling objects of sense and time. History and experience 
shew, that it can never be satisfied with any finite good ; and es- 
pecially, the possession of all earthly enjoyments only leaves the void 
more conspicuous and more painful. The whole world, if it were 
attained, would but more powerfully illustrate its own poverty ; 
for even Alexander weeps because there are no more worlds to con- 
quer. Scripture declares, and Nature, so far as we can trace her, 
confirms it, that man — and man alone — was made after the image of 
God, — and therefore nothing short of God himself can ever satisfy 
him. Heaven itself would be inadequate to fill the soul, or to allay 
the cravings of such a being. The fellowship and love of the Al- 
mighty, and that alone^ by the very constitution of our nature, can 
fill and satisfy the boundless desires of the human heart. They 
who stop short of this, can never be satisfied ; vv^hile they who 
place their happiness on Him, will always be full, because he alone 
is infinite. The love of God, and the desire for his glory then, are 
the only true foundation of human happiness. And hence it is, 
that the perfection of enjoyment, and the whole sum of duty, 
meet in this one point, — the love of god. 

Note S, p. 318. — The writer is aware that, in doing justice to 
this department of a child's education, it is impossible to avoid the 
charge of " enthusiasm," perhaps " illiberality," or "fanaticism." 
In what we have urged in the preceding pages, we have endea- 
voured calmly to state and illustrate simple facts, — plain indica- 
tions of Nature, — and to draw the obvious deductions which they 
suggest. We intend to follow precisely the same course here, 
although quite aware that we are much more liable to be misunder- 
stood, or misrepresented. We shall at least endeavour calmly to 
put what we have to say upon a true philosophical basis. 

We all admire what is termed '' Roman Greatness," — that self- 
esteem that would not allow the possessor to degrade himself, even 
in his own estimation, by indulging in any thing that was mean, 
or disreputable, or contrary to the unchangeable rule of right. 
Cato's probity, who chose to die rather than appear to connive at 
selfislmess ; and Brutus's love of justice, who could, with a noble 
heroism, and without faultering, doom even his own sons to death 
in the midst of the entreaties of his friends for their pardon, and 
the concurrence of the people ; — are but two out of numberless in- 
stances from ancient history. Now we ask, if we admire, and ap- 
prove of men being so jealous of their honour, is it to be imagined 
that the God who made them, and who implanted those high moral 
sentiments in their breasts, should be less jealous of his ^ — Every 
one will acknowledge that he is infinitely more so — Audit is in ac- 
cordance with this true philosophical sentiment, that we come to 



340 NOTES. 

the conclusion, that to teach religion, — that is, to teach the charac- 
ter of God, and the duty we owe him, — without what is called 
the " peculiar doctrines" of Christianity, is to lower the character 
of the Almighty, and to impugn his holiness, his faithfulness, his 
justice, and even his goodness ; — things under the imputation of 
which even a high-minded Roman would have felt himself degraded 
and insulted. 

In teaching Religion and Morality to the young, therefore, the 
pupil must know, that God is too holy to look upon sin, or to con- 
nive at it ; — too just to permit the very least transgression to pass 
with impunity ; — too faithful to allow his intimations, either in. 
Kature, or in Providence, or in Scripture, ever to fail, or to be call- 
ed in question, without danger ; — and too good to risk the happiness 
of his holy creatures, by allowing them to suppose it even possible 
that they can ever indulge in sin, and yet escape misery. Where a 
knowledge of these attributes of Deity is ivaniing^ his character 
must appear grievously defective ; but wherever they are denied^ it 
is most blasphemously dishonoured — Hence the importance of even 
a child knowing how it is that " God can be just, while he justifies 
the ungodily." 

All these perfections, with the additional revelation of his mercy 
and grace, are exhibited, and greatly magnified and honoured, by 
the Christian scheme ; and it is to the simplicity of this, as the 
foundation of the child's education, that we wish at present to di- 
rect the attention of the parent and teacher. 

A child may be taught to know that God hates sin, and that he 
must, as a just God, punish even the least transgression. There is 
no difficulty in understanding this simple truth. And it may be 
made equally clear, that man must have suffered for himself, and 
that for ever, if God had not sent his Son Jesus Christ to endure 
in their place the punishment which the inflexible nature of his 
justice required. To believe that God will pardon sin without 
such an atonement, is, as we have shewn, to sully the character of 
God ; while to believe it, and to act upon the belief, is at once the 
highest honour we can pay to his perfections, and becomes the 
strongest possible stimulant to a grateful heart to avoid sin, and 
to strive to love and to obey Him. This accordingly is the sum of 
Christianity, when divested of its technicalities ; and this is the 
foundation, — and the only proper foundation, upon which to rear 
either morality or religion. But it does form a solid and ample 
foundation for that purpose. And there is perhaps no Christian of 
any sect who will deny, that either child or adult, who simply de- 
pends for pardon and acceptance with a holy God, on the substitu- 
tion of the Saviour, and who, in evidence of his sincerity, strives to 
hate and avoid sin, and to love and obey God, is not in a safe state. 

In teaching these simple fundamental truths to the young, the 
parent or teacher will find the " Shorter Confession of Faith," 
of great use. Its " First Step" ought to be taught fii'St ; and the 
second must on no account be proceeded with, till the truths in the 
first have become familiar. The same rule ought also to be adopted 
with the second, before passing to the third. The " First Initiatory 



XOTES. 341 

Catechism" has also been found of great benefit to the young ; and 
which is very easily and successfully taught by means of its Key. 

The foundation being thus laid, the great object of the teacher 
then is to train the child to duty ; — teaching, in a familiar way, 
what conduct ought to be avoided, and what pursued, — what is dis- 
pleasing to God, and what he delights in. This can only be done, 
or at least is best done, by drawing lessons from Scripture. The 
very commandment, " Thou shalt not steal," is dealt with by Na- 
ture in this way ; for when we examine the operation of the mind, 
when acting even upon the direct precept, we find that it assumes 
the form of a lesson, which in that case is only an echo of the 
command. Scripture example and narrative, however, are always 
preferable with children ; and perhaps the best method of initiating 
them into the ability to perceive and draw lessons generally, will be 
to begin and carry them forward by means of the " Progressive 
Exercises" at the end of the First Initiatory Catechism. Very 
young children are able to commence this -important exercise ; and 
the information and directions given in the Key will enable any 
monitor to carry them forward. 

The application of the lessons ought to be the principal concern 
of the teacher. On this much of their utility depends, and of 
which the following will aflPord a sufficient example. 

In the 5th line of the " Progressive Exercise^," above referred to, 
the announcement is simply that " Rebekah was obliging," — from 
which the child will readily enough draw the lesson, that " we also 
should be obliging." But to apply this lesson, the teacher is to sup- 
pose a corresponding case, and to ask the child how it ought to behave 
on that occasion. For example, he may ask, "If a companion wanted 
a sight of your book, what should you do ?" " Lend it to him." 
— " From what do you get that lesson ?" " From Rebekah being- ob- 
liging." — " If you saw your companion drop his ball, or his marble, 
without perceiving it, what should you do ?" " Pick it up and give 
it to him." — " How do you you know that you ought to do that ?" 
" Frem God giving Rebekah as our example, who was obliging." 

The field which here opens up for the ingenuity of the teacher for 
the moral improvement of the young is almost boundless. 

Note T, p. 318. — The method which both Nature and experience 
have pointed out, as the best for giving a practical knowledge of the 
principles of Natural, Philosophy to children, is to state and explain 
some general principle, such as, that " Soft and porous bodies are 
bad conductors (of beat ;") and then set them to think, by asking 
what special lessons that general truth teaches them. This leads 
the pupil to a train of thought, which will at all events prepare him 
for the proper lessons when suggested by the teacher, and which 
will enable him at once to perceive why his mother has to make 
use of a cloth when using the smoothing iron ; why a metal tea- 
pot must have a wooden handle ; — why soft clothing preserves the 
heat of his body, and keeps him warm ; — and why the poker by the 
fire gets heated throughout, while a piece of wood, the same length 
and in the same spot, remains comparatively cool. 
2f3 



342 NOTES. 

To teach the phenomena of Nature, out of their mutual relations 
to the general principle, would be both laborious and evanescent, 
because of the want of the great connecting link, afforded by the 
analytical method here supposed. It was by the above means that 
the children, in the experiment in Aberdeen, and more especially 
those in that at Newry, appeared to the examinators to be inex- 
haustible ; they having, during a space of time unprecedentedly 
short, got hold of principles which enabled them, without any great 
stretch of memory, and by the association of ideas, to account for 
hundreds of familiar objects and circumstances, the nature and 
working of which they had never perhaps thought of before. 

The application of the lessons in these exercises is equally ne- 
cessary, and equally beneficial. It may be directly from some of the 
lessons dra^vn, such as, " Why is it inconvenient to handle hot 
irons ?" " Because hard bodies readily conduct heat." Or it may 
be varied by asking the reason of a phenomenon not formerly per- 
ceived ; — such as, " Why does the fire scorch the foot when it is 
without a stocking, and not when we have a stocking on ?" " Be- 
cause soft bodies, such as the stocking, do not readily conduct heat." 
These are sufficient as specimens of the mode of conducting classes 
upon these principles ; the " Steps," and their " Keys," construct- 
ed for the purpose, will assist both teacher and pupil in their proper 
working. 

Note U, p. 320. — In teaching children to read, two things are 
to be specially observed.— .Fir*^, that the child shall know that 
the letters in a syllable are used merely as the signs of sound, 
by the combination of which he is to get a hint only of the sound 
of the whole word. This will very soon enable him to teach him- 
self. — The second is, that the child shall know that his reading 
is only another way of getting at truth by words seen^ instead of 
words heard. This will make him search for the ideas, even while 
learning to read ; and the habit being formed, he will never after- 
wards be satisfied without understanding all that he reads. 

The letters of the Alphabet, with their powers, having been 
made familiar, the '"• First Class Book" may he put into the pupil's 
hand, and the first word taught him by the combination of the 
three letters, — "• Bob." Shew him how the letters pronounced 
shortly, and rapidly one after another, /orm the word. He will then 
be able to read this word wherever he iinds it. The word " has," is 
to be taught in the same way, and then the word "• dog." He must 
then be asked, " Who has a dog ?" and " What has Bob ?" till 
he understands that these three words convey an idea. The second 
and succeeding lines are to be taug^ht tlie same way; — the teacher 
making him read the words in different parts out of their order ^ to 
take care that be does not repeat by rote. 

At every new lesson he must learn to read the words which 
precede it, and to read them well before beginning. The great 
design of his reading being to collect the ideas conveyed by the 
words, his doing so is greatly facilitated by his learning to read 
fhe Words before beginning to the lesson. It is only necessary to 



NOTES. 343 

remark, that the homely nature of the lessons tends greatly to pro- 
duce the eifect here designed, and which would not perhaps be so 
successfully accomplished at this stage in any other way. 

Children may be taught to write almost as soon as they can read 
a few of their lessons. Care being taken that they hold the pea 
properly, they will soon learn to form the letters as an amusement ; 
— and when these are known, they will soon be able to combine 
them into words. When they begin to write sentences, it ought 
to be from their own minds, or memories, but not from copies. 
Writing is merely an imitation of Nature in her operation of con- 
veying ideas by speech ; and the nearer the imitation can be made 
to correspond with the original, the m.ore perfect will it be. Speech 
is intended solely for the communication of our ideas ; — and so 
should writing. We teach children words and the names of things, 
•but we nev'er teach them to express their own thoughts, by re- 
hearsing after us either long or short speeches of our own. Neither 
can we so readily teach children to express their own thoughts 
by writing, if we attempt to do it by making them copy words 
which others have thought for them, and the ideas of which they 
themselves perhaps do not perceive. Copy-lines are a great hin- 
derance to the young ; and even for teaching the correct and elegant 
formation of the letters they do not appear to be always necessary. 

Note V, p. 320 — Arithmetic, and numerical calculations of every 
kind, are wrought by what have been termed " the four simple 
Rules," viz. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. 
They who are expert and accurate in working these^ have only to 
learn the several rules by which they are applied to all the varied 
purposes of life, to be perfect arithmeticians. 

But when the working of these four rules is analysed, we find 
that, with the exception of the multiplication table, the whole four 
are merely different applications of the rule of addition. Subtrac- 
tion is wrought by adding a supposed sum to the figure to be sub- 
tracted ; — multiplication (with the exception mentioned above,) 
is wrought simply by adding the carryings and the aggregate of 
the vseveral lines ; — and division, with the same exception, is also 
in practice wrought by a series of additions. If then we shall sup- 
pose the multiplication table fully mastered, it follows, that the 
person who has attained greatest expercness in addition, will be the 
most expert in the working of any and every arithmetical exercise 
to which he may be called. 

But expertness in arithmetical calculations, is by no means 
so valuable as accuracy ; — and upon the above principle, it 
also follows, that the person who acquires the greatest degree of 
accuracy and confidence in working addition.^ must, of course, be 
most accurate in all his calculations. The importance of this pi'in- 
ciple will be much more prized by and bye than it can be at present ; 
—we shall however shew here how it may be taken advantage of. 

Upon the principle of Individuation, we have seen, that a child 
will learn one thing much better and sooner by itself, than when 
it is mixed up with several others ; and therefore we come to the 



344 NOTES. 

conclusion, that a child, when taught the practice of addition by itself, 
till he is fully master of it, both as respects rapidity and accuracy, 
has afterwards little more to do than to get a knowledge of rules. 
One month's systematic exercise in this way^ will do more in form- 
ing a desirable accountant for a desk, than a whole year's exercise 
otherwise. In the one case, the pupil starts to the race without 
preparation, and with all his natural impediments clinging to him, 
which he has to disentangle and throw off one by one during the 
fatigues and turmoil of the contest ; while the other, on the coa- 
trary, delays his start till he has deliberately searched them out 
and cast them aside, and thus prepared himself for the course. He 
then starts vigorous and light, to outstrip his labouring and lum- 
bering competitors, not only in this, but in every after trial of 
strength and skill of a similar kind. 

To follow out this plan with success, the " Arithmetic Rod,'* 
containing three sides, has been provided. On one side there is 
a single line of figures, on the second two, and on the third three. 
These lines of figures for a school, ought to be painted on three 
boards sufficiently large for all to see them distinctly. The first 
line is to be mastered perfectly, before the second or the third is 
to be taught. 

The way to begin with the first line, is to make the pupil men- 
tally add a certain sum to each figure on the board, say two, or seven, 
or fourteen, or any other sum, beginning always with a small one. 
He is besides to add the carryings also to each figure, and to write 
down the sum as he goes on. The beginner may be exercised with 
the sum of two, or even one, and have the sum increased, as he ac- 
quires a knowledge of the method. These sums, as the pupils ad- 
vance, may be extended to any amount. The Key will shew, in 
every case, whether the exercise has been accurately performed ; 
and by marking the time in any particular case, the teacher 
can measure exactly, every week or month, the advance of each 
pupil. 

The mental advantages of this exercise are numerous. Among 
other things it trains to a great command of the mind ; and brings 
into exercise an important principle formerly illustrated, (Part III. 
ch. xi. p. 288,) by which the pupil acquires the ability to think one 
thing, and to do another. 

When the pupil is sufficiently expert at one line of figures, he 
should be exercised upon the B side of the rod, containing the 
double line. He is to practise adding each pair of the figures at a 

glance, till he can run them over without difficulty, as if they 

were single figures. He is then to add a sum to them^ as he did 
on the single liiie, till he can add the sum and the double figure as 
readily as he did one. The C side of the rod is to be treated in 
the same way ; — first by adding all the three figures at a glance, 
and naming the sum of each, till he can do it as readily as if there 
was but one ; and then he is to add any special sum to them as 
before. 

Note W, p. 321 Children generally delight in music, and sel- 



NOTES. 345 

dora weary in its exercise. It forms therefore, when judiciously 
managed, a most useful exercise in a school for the purposes of re- 
laxation and variety, and for invigorating their minds after a 
lengthened engagement in drier studies. It thus not only becomes 
desirable to teach music in the seminary as a branch of education 
for after life, but for the purposes of present expediency. 

That music may be taught to the young in a manner much more 
simple than it has yet generally been done, is now matter of ex- 
perience. The notes are only seven, and these are each as prt-cise 
and definite in proportion to the key note as any letter in the al- 
phabet. There is obviously no difficulty in teaching a child seven 
figures, — and there is in reality as little difficulty in teaching him 
seven notes ; so that, having the key note, he will, in reading a 
tune, sound each in its order when presented to him, as readily 
and accurately as he would read so many figures. 

To render this exercise more simple to children, and more con- 
venient in a school, the notes have been represented by figures, I being 
the key note. The other notes rise in the common gradation from 
1 to 8, which is the key note in alt. By this means, the teach t^- })y 
writing on the common black board a few figures, gives the ohii- 
dren the tune, which a very little practice enables them to read 
as readily as they v/ould the words to which they adapt it. 

For particulars as to time, &c. see " Shorter Catechism Hymn 
Book," p. 23 and 24. 

Note X, p. 264. — There is perhaps no department in the family 
economy which ought to be so cautiously filled up as ihenursery maid; 
and yet we generally find, that the duties of this office are frequently 
handed over to any thoughtless giddy girl, whose appearance is 
''• shewy," although she be without education, without experience, and 
often without principle. Why there has been as yet no regular semi- 
nary for the training of young persons of good principles, for the re- 
sponsible duties of the nursery, is not a little remarkable. Not one 
of the many valuable institutions for particular classes is so mucli 
wanted, and which, if properly conducted, would be a greater bless- 
ing to families and to society generally. One of the most beautiful 
features in our infant schools is the circumstance, that they have 
tended greatly to lessen this evil, and in some measure to supply 
the desideratum. 

Note Y, p. 268 — The question of rewards and punishments in a 
public school is a difficult one ; and although there has of late been 
an obvious improvement in this respect, we are afraid that the 
principles which ought to regulate them are not yet very clearly un- 
derstood. Hence the contrariety of sentiments on the subject, with 
little more than mere opinions offered to support them. The following 
few crude thoughts on the subject, may perhaps lead others better 
qualified to consider it more extensively. 

We can all readily enough distinguish the difierence between 
physical efi^orts, intellectual efforts, and moral efi^orts ; but we are 
very ready to confound the rewards which, we think, Nature has 



346 NOTES. 

pointed out as most appropriate to each. For physical exertions, 
such as the race, or the wrestling match, physical returns appear 
natural and appropriate enough ; and therefore, money, decorations, 
or other physical honours, are the ordinary rewards for excelling in 
any of them. But to desire money as a return for intellectual ex- 
cellence, appears to every well constituted mind as sordid and un- 
seemly. The reward for the exertion of intellect must partake of 
intellectual dignity ; and hence it is, that esteem, applause, or ad- 
miration, — the incense of the mind, — appears to be the natural re- 
turn for such exertions. In proof of this, we may instance the 
sensible degradation which is felt, when the reward proffered for 
meHtal efforts, even in children, takes the form of food, or clothing, 
or money ; — and the kind of estimation in which students hold 
their medals, books, and other prizes, acquired at their several semi- 
naries. These are never valued for their intrinsic worth, but only 
as permanent signs of approbation, or admiration, — feelings which 
are purely intellectual in their character, and perfectly distinct from 
the grossness of physical rewards on the one hand, and the affec- 
tions — the moral incense of the heart, — on the other. 

All this appears pretty evident ; and it obviously leads us to the 
next and concluding step, which is, that the natural and proper 
reward for moral actions, ought to partake of the moral character. 
It is the love and affection of those we serve, or who are called on 
to estimate, or to decide on the character of our actions, — that is 
the proper, the natural, the desirable return. A little consideration, 
we think, will shew us, that this, as a general principle, is really 
correct ; and that applause, admiration, or wonder, when~they are 
afforded without affection, do not satisfy the heart, that in the 
exercise of love, seeks love in return — It is the friendship, the 
fellowship, the affections ©f those whom we aim at pleasing, that 
alone can approve itself to our minds as the appropriate returns for 
moral actions. 

Note Z, p. 299 The following are a few specimens of the para- 
phrastic exercise, as employed upon different subjects : — 

" But Martha was [cumbered] [about much serving,] and came to 
[him,] and said, Lord, [dost thou not care] that my sister hath left 
me to [serve] alone ? [bid] her, therefore, that she [help] me." 

This verse is pai-aphrased in the Help to Luke by substituting 
the explanation of the words printed in Italics, and within brackets, 
for the words themselves, in the following manner : 

" But Martha was [much incommoded and harassed] [to get 
every thing in order for the temporal accommodation of Jesus and 
his disciples,] and came to [Jesus,] and said. Lord, [art thou indif- 
ferent or careless about the circumstance] that my sister hath left 
me to [prepare the victuals, and do all the work of the house] alone ? 
[Command] her, therefore, that she [leave her seat at thy feet, and 
come to assist] me.'''' 

" Every thing [in nature] [shews forth] God's [wisdom,] [power,] 
and [goodness;] but the Bible, which is the [word ef God,] dinA. 
which was [written] by [holy] men at [different times,,] under [his 



NOTES. 347 

direction,] has most [clcarlt/] [revealed] what [God is,] what he has 
done and what [we should do.'"] 

This is paraphrased in the Key to the Second Initiatory Catechism 
thus : 

" Every thing [that has been made in the world and sky] [f?ives 
clear and constant proof of] God's [chusing the best ends, and ac- 
complishing these by the best means,] [his being able to do any 
thing, and every thing,] and [never ceasing to care for, and to 
promote the happiness oi all his creatures ;] — but the Bible^ — ivhich 
is the [only declaration of God's mind and will to man,] and which 
was [composed, and put, with pen and ink, upon parchment or pa- 
per,] by [good and pious] men, at [dates long distant from each 
other,] under [the care of God, who told them what they were to 
write,] — has most [distinctly and plainly,] [brought into view, and 
let us know,] ivhat [God's character and perfections are,] what he 
has done, and vjhaf [is our duty, both to God and man."] 

" The [word of God,] which is contained in the [Scriptiires] of 
the Old and New Testament, is the only [rule] to [direct us] how 
we may glorify and enjoy him." 

This is paraphrased in the Key to the Shorter Catechism in the 
following manner : 

" The [revelation of God's will,] which is contained in the [writ- 
ings] of the Old and New Testament, is the only [guide] to [give us 
information] how we may glorify and enjoy him.^^ 

Note A a, p. 321. — Nature has obviously intended that all men 
should be both physically and mentally employed ; and that, for the 
proper maintenance of health, the time occupied by physical exer- 
cise, ought in general to exceed that which is employed exclusively 
in study. The combination of both in ordinary cases, however, is 
still more plainly indicated. In the circumstances of the young, 
physical exercise is peculiarly necessary. The writer looks forward 
with confidence to a time, when to every seminary of eminence 
will be attached a sufficient plot of ground for gardening and agri- 
cultural purposes, that the physical energies of the pupils may not 
be allowed irregularly to run to waste, as at present ; but when 
they shall be systematically directed to interesting, and at the same 
time to useful purposes. The hand-swing, although an excellent 
substitute, will never cope in interest, even to a child, with the 
moderate use of the hoe, the rake, or the spade. Such a system 
will produce many and valuable advantages to the young. Garden- 
ing, by postponing the results of labour, exciting hope, and by its 
daily advances, encouraging to perseverance, will tend to produce 
a most beneficial moral effect ; and will greatly assist the teacher 
in establishing and strengthening some of those valuable checks 
upon the volatility of the young mind, which are exceedinglv ne- 
cessary for the proper conduct of life, but which there is usually 
but small opportunity of cultivating in youth. 

But even then, for the proper conducting of a school, there will, 
for in-door exercise, be something more required than has yet been 
provided, both as to kind and degree. When we examine a num- 



348 NOTES. 

ber of children at play, we seldom find them sitting, or even stai 
iiig, for any length of time, when they have space and opportunity 
exercise their limbs. The hand-motions of the infant scho( 
therefore, although excellent so far as they go, do not go i 
enough; and even the maixliing of the children is obviously' 
monotonous, and not sufficiently lively, for throwing off the jkc 
mulated mass of animal spirits, which is so speedily fornfied 
young persons while engaged at their lessons. It was to sup 
this defect that the writer, a number of years ago, made some 
periments with a large class of children, and with complete succ 
The exercise was founded on the singing and marching of the inf 
schools, and consisted in what is known in certain seminaries 
" Rights and Lefts." The children were taught to meet 
other in bands of eqnal number, and by giving the right and 
hand alternately to those who came in the opposite direction, 
undulated, as it were, through each others ranks, and passed oi 
their own music, till they met again on the other side of the ro( 
and proceeded as before. The exercise thus afforded to the 
and lower extremities of each child, the expansion caused to 
chest, and the play given to the muscles of the back and body, 
exceedingly beneficial ; and the whole being regulated by their 
song, gives healthy, and not excessive exercise to the lungs and 
whole circulation. 

It was also found, that this amusing employment for the young, 
capable of great variety. Instead of two bands meeting each ot 
in lines in opposite directions, and parting, to meet again at 
other side of the room, they were formed into a *rcle, one-half n 
ing in one direction, and one-half moving in tht, opposite, by wi 
means the cii'cle was never broken. It was also found, that on 
these circles, containing six or eight children only, could move v, it 
the other when it contained a larger number, without those in 
one interfering in the least with those of the other ; and the ef 
became still moi'e imposing when between these, and without th 
two other bands of children joined hands, united in the song, 
moved round in opposite directions. 

These details may appear trifling to some ; but experience 
soon convince practical men, that in education, as in Nature, 
most simple means often produce the most powerful and the 
beneficial results. 



THE END. 



\' ^ '-' , ^ « IL ^ A- 



^"^ ^ 



^/^ '^•^■:-,.N '' ^1^^^^]^'^'^%. v-^"^ ^0B^. 






S^ 









V 



^%. ^^^ 



.^^ -^ 



O y 



- .V 



ci-. 






> 










X^^x. 



f^ 



\o^ 






o 0^ 




^ ''^^^^^^o• 



■\' 



^^' 



ir ,„*^ 



: ■r'^- 



: ..%^% 



■A N C- 









'-^ a\ 



--N^ 






^ "^^ .-^.^ 



^v 't. 






> 



.,^^' 



,0^ 



"-<.,# *>Va^ %,/'.^^ 



\^ 









.#'^ 



.0 0^ 












o 0^ 







C>. ^ 






^ <o- 



-^^^ ^^ 









•^^<>' 



\l? 



<' '^ 













. ^^. 



..-H -^^^ 



OO 






m . «■ 



%,# r^^^^em %c<' ■^^ 






I'p ^>. ^ ^;?^llrtgE^ o ^y <p. 












kp^' :\.^^- 



L^ <^ 






^ ./ 



^^ v^ 



\^ ^.'^■^.^•<<^7^^''-' ■ "' 



A' .r. 



^\^' : 









H -/^ 



>/;;%z 



^.#' :^#: 






1^ "t^ / -:^.^m 











v^' ''^-^^ ^. 



^\^- 



>1 cP 









.--i,, 






s ^ /\ 



:^^ ^ c^ 



>l^^' 






>' 



-% 



^^ O ^. X ^'^ 



^0 o. 



^.r::;.:^ ^ c^.^i; 



^>f^^ 



'V.r. 



